Frankie Grande recalls how Manchester bombing at sister Ariana's concert led to his sobriety

Randi Richardson
·2 min read
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Performer Frankie Grande is celebrating six years of sobriety by recalling what contributed to his using and the "rock-bottom moment" that prompted him to get clean.

The older brother of pop star Ariana Grande dropped by TODAY with Hoda & Jenna on Jan. 4 and chatted about his sobriety journey.

"It's literally changed everything in my life," Grande, 40, said.

"I always say that I'm so lucky and I'm so blessed because at the height of my using, I was still showing up to work," he continued. "And people weren't saying, like, 'Oh, you need to get help.' Which is great, but it's also kind of a curse because I was like, 'Well, no one's telling me I need to get help.'"

Grande said he had to decide for himself that "it was time to get help."

"It was a rock-bottom moment," he added. "It was after the Manchester bombing and I realized that I could not show up to help my family."

Grande was referring to the deadly suicide bombing that occurred in 2017 at his sister's concert at Manchester Arena in Britain, killing 22 people and injuring many more.

"It took me further and further into using and farther and farther away from my family," Grande said of the bombing's impact on him.

Now sober, Grande said he's gotten his life back.

"The six years sober has repaired my relationships with my family and that has been the greatest blessing of my life," he said. "I'm the first phone call again when my sister wants to ask a question or when my mother needs help for something. I'm the first phone call, which I wasn't for years."

Grande stars in the musical "Titanique" in New York from Jan. 13 through Feb. 18. The off-Broadway production showcases Celine Dion's music and is a parody of the classic film "Titanic," Grande said.

"It is gold," he said. "It is something you kind of have to see to believe. It is done with love. It is done with so much camp and so much joy. You leave so, so happy. And that's the kind of theater that I like."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com