Miley Cyrus & Ariana Grande mark March for Our Lives with powerful performances

Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande put on emotional performances in solidarity with student protesters at the March for Our Lives rally in Washington D.C. on Saturday (24Mar18).
Hundreds of thousands of students and supporters of gun control reform took to the streets across America in the wake of last month’s (14Feb18) Florida massacre, which claimed the lives of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, and the pop stars joined other celebrities by singing and marching alongside demonstrators.
During a special concert, Miley belted out her inspiring 2009 ballad The Climb, while holding up a large sign that read ‘Never Again’ onstage.
Speaking to the crowd during her powerful performance, the she admitted singing the song had “never felt more special”.
“Thank you so much, everybody,” Miley said. “Thank you for being here! I love you all so much. Never again. You guys are so incredible and I just count myself lucky to be in the presence of all you wonderful people, fighting for what’s right.”
Ariana took to the stage to perform her hit Be Alright, and followed her pal Miley’s lead by praising protesters for their participation in the march.
“This is for those brilliant students here today that are leading this march and for everybody participating today. Thank you so much for fighting for change and for love and safety and for our future,” she said to the crowd.
Several other celebrities, including Demi Lovato, Common, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, also delivered moving performances In Washington, D.C. while Jennifer Hudson remembered the social protest movements of the 1960s by belting out a cover of folk legend Bob Dylan’s classic folk anthem The Times They Are a-Changin.
Other stars like Kim Kardashian and her husband Kanye West and George and Amal Clooney flew in to the U.S. capital to march with protesters, while the likes of Amy Schumer, Rita Ora, Olivia Wilde, Leona Lewis, and Willow Smith took part in a Los Angeles protest.
And Paul McCartney was among the A-listers in the crowd at a protest in New York City, explaining to CNN he decided to take part in the rally to pay tribute to his late Beatles bandmate John Lennon, who was shot dead in Manhattan in 1980.
“One of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here, so it’s important to me,” the 75-year-old rocker shared.