Ariana Grande starts tour with tribute to rapper ex Mac Miller

Ariana Grande appeared to pay tribute to her late rapper ex-boyfriend Mac Miller as she kicked off her world tour.

One of Miller’s songs was played out across the Times Union Center in Albany, New York, moments before the pop star took to the stage to launch her seven-month Sweetener tour — her first since the terror attack at her Manchester concert in 2017.

Fans wrote on Twitter that they were moved to tears by the gesture. Grande then opened the concert with her song Raindrops, which many of her fans have speculated is about Miller.

The rapper, who dated Grande for two years until May 2018, was found dead at his home in California in September.

A coroner ruled the cause of death was an accident, due to drugs and alcohol. After the performance Grande, 25, wrote on Twitter: “my mind is all over the place and v emotional... tonight was too much. thank you thank you thank you. i love you.”

Last night her friend Nicki Minaj paid tribute to those killed in the Manchester attack during a concert in the city.

The rapper, who was performing there as part of her Nicki Wrld Tour, took time between songs to mention the victims and their families.

Minaj said: “Put your light in the sky for everybody we lost.

“God bless the families of everyone who survived and God bless Manchester for being resilient and not bowing down to fear. For being strong no matter what.”

She later wrote on Twitter that Manchester had “stolen my heart”.