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A month after the death of musician Lauren Bennett, her bandmates announced the heartbreaking news, and fans were quick to rush to her Instagram page to share their sadness.
The former girlband member’s last social media post was a video of her showing off her talent by singing a cover of Nancy Sinatra’s 'These Boots Were Made for Walkin’, which she uploaded in February, just three months before her death on May 29.
In a heartfelt statement posted to her former band G.R.L.’s Instagram page on Monday, July 6, Bennett’s friends wrote: "It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our beloved Lauren. Our hearts are broken, and we cannot begin to express how much she meant to us.
"We will forever cherish the love, laughter, and countless memories she gave us. Her beautiful spirit touched so many lives, and she will be deeply missed and forever loved. Rest peacefully, sweet Lauren. You will always be in our hearts. Your GRLs, Em, Tash, and P."
While the cause of Bennett’s death is currently unknown, an inquest into her death is set to take place in October.
The singer known for her collaborations with artists such as CeeLo Green and will.i.am leaves behind a six-year-old daughter called Harlow.
Born on June 24, 1989, in Kent, England, Bennett also died in her home county just a month before her 37th birthday.
Bennett began her career aged just 18, joining a band called Paradiso Girls in 2007; they released their debut single Patron Tequila in 2009. She went on to release music on her own and featured on LMFAO's hit 2011 song, Party Rock Anthem, which sat at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks.
The mother-of-one then joined G.R.L., which became reasonably successful in the UK in the early 2010s and released tracks 'Vacation,' 'Wild Wild Love' with Pitbull and 'Ugly Heart.'
Sadly, this is not the first time the former band members, Emmalyn Estrada, Natasha Slayton, and Paula van Oppen, have had to deal with a tragedy in the band. In 2014, group member Simone Battle died by suicide at 25. They later released a song called 'Lighthouse' in tribute.
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A beloved TikToker has tragically died at the age of 22, her boyfriend announced in a heartbreaking video.
Leah Smith, from Liverpool, UK, was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2019 and chronicled her battle with the disease on TikTok and Instagram.
She passed away in the morning of Monday (March 12) from Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of cancer in the bones and soft tissue.
Taking to TikTok on her behalf, Leah's boyfriend Andrew announced the tragic news to her half a million followers.
The video has been viewed 8 million times, racking up 731,000 likes and 60,000 comments at the time of writing.
In the clip, the grieving boyfriend said: "I just want to say thank you to everyone. All your comments did help. She did actually read all of them. And anyone who said anything nice ever, it means more than you realized.
"We’ll all miss Leah and we’ll make sure that we never forget her. I want to see everyone speaking about Leah and how amazing she is and how much she helped everyone. We’ll never let Leah be forgotten."
Several high-profile TikTokers took to the comments to express their devastation over the loss of the young content creator.
Fellow TikToker Katylee Bailey wrote: "Leah was such a beautiful person inside and out! She will never be forgotten! Rest in peace."
A follower penned: "Leah Smith. A girl we will never forget – rest in paradise angel. Thoughts are with you all."
Another TikTok user commented: "RIP Leah Smith. A truly inspirational woman xx."
This user simply wrote: "i’m acc in tears [sic]."
A friend of Leah, Vikki, had earlier in the week shared an update on the TikToker's health, stating that she was "unable to move or talk" and was on "end of life" care.
"The main thing is, is that Leah is so peaceful now, she looks as beautiful as ever and we’re just grateful we can be at her bedside and hold her hand to comfort her through it," she continued.
In one of the last TikTok posts that she uploaded herself, Leah was seen eating pasta from her hospital bed.
"Ate my dinner for the first time in 3 weeks proud of myself," she captioned the post.
In another devastating video posted to her TikTok page last month, Leah informed her followers - in the update she "never wanted to do" - that doctors had concluded her treatment.
She said: "The doctors have said there’s no point trying to give me more antibiotics and fluids because it just isn’t working anymore. All the pain meds aren’t working so they really just want to get me to a comfortable state as much as possible.
"Idk what this means for me if it is the end of the journey but all my family have come around and I am just going to act like I’m good and great because quit frankly I am so so scared. I don’t want to die yet. I’m sorry."
The heartbreaking final tweets from the woman who lost her life after attending a Taylor Swift concert have come to light.
On Friday (November 17), 23-year-old Ana Clara Benevides tragically died after she arrived at the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos stadium in Rio de Janeiro to watch the 33-year-old 'Anti Hero' singer perform.
According to the Brazilian newspaper Fohla De Sao Paolo, Benevides reportedly fainted prior to the start of the Eras tour concert and was assisted by a team of emergency workers.
The late fan's cousin, Estela Benevides, told the outlet that Ana ultimately died of cardiorespiratory arrest, however, no official cause of death has been reported as of this writing.
T4F - the concert organizers - have issued a statement on Instagram about Ana's tragic death, writing: "It’s with great sadness that we inform you about the death of Ana Clara Benevides Machado aged 23," per The Mirror.
"Yesterday night, Ana Clara felt unwell and was assisted by a team of emergency workers and paramedics, being taken to a medical center at Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium so the first aid protocol could be applied.
"Given the situation, the medical team opted to transfer her to Salgado Filho Hospital. After nearly an hour of emergency assistance, she regrettably died," they continued, adding, "We send our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Ana Clara Benevides."
In light of Ana's death, fans are now sharing her final posts on X (formerly known as Twiter). On November 7, the young fan heartfully penned: "Like I literally don't know what my purpose in life will be after I see Taylor."
In another tweet, she eagerly counted down the days until she got to see Swift live, writing: "10 days for me to live my dream".
Now, the comment has been inundated with condolences from fans all over the world. One user wrote: "You deserved so much better. rest in peace beautiful. you will be missed."
Another said: "My heart aches. you don’t deserve what happened to you. All my love to your friends and family. I can’t imagine what they’re feeling."
A third added: "She should have been able to go home and tell her family and friends about it…. this is so f***ed up."
In addition to her tweet, The Sun has also revealed a heartbreaking final video Ana took before her death, in which she could be seen waiting in the sweltering heat inside the open-air stadium.
The footage was shared as part of an Instagram Live video at 5:ooPM local time on Friday - in which, Ana included a temperature stamp showing that it was 35C at the time of her recording.
In the clip, she could be seen fanning herself in an attempt to cool her body temperature, as she expressed happiness over the amount of people entering the stadium.
Elsewhere in the footage, Ana could be seen taking shade under a large umbrella, and she informed her followers that she had been inside the stadium since 11:00AM in order to claim her spot at the front near the stage.
Despite the heat, she smiled and looked excited about the show, describing it as a "dream come true".
Benevides tragically died before the 'Bad Blood' songstress took to the stage to kick off her show at around 7:30PM local time, per BBC News. The Sun reported that Ana was declared dead at 8:50PM.
It is believed that Swift was completely unaware of Ana's untimely passing as she performed her show, and later issued a heartbreaking statement on Instagram expressing her devastation.
"I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this. I can’t believe that I’m writing these words, but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show," she penned.
"There’s very little information I have, other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young," Swift continued, before stating that she would not be talking about the death on stage that evening.
"I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends," the singer said, adding that this was the "last thing I thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil."
Furthermore, videos taken by fans at the show showed the singer handing out bottles of water to those in the crowd who were chanting "water" - as the capital city hit a record-high heat index of 59.3 degrees Celsius, per Reuters.
As the heat index peaked at 59.7 degrees Celsius on Saturday (November 18), the 'Karma' songstress announced on Instagram that she would postpone the event for the "safety and wellbeing of her fans, fellow performers, and crew".
Swift still has two more shows left in Rio de Janeiro and will then travel to Sao Paulo for three more shows.
Taylor Swift has said that she is "overwhelmed by grief" after a 23-year-old fan tragically passed away attending her show in Brazil.
On Friday (November 17) night, a fan named Ana Clara Benevides sadly died ahead of the 33-year-old 'Anti Hero' musician's concert in Rio de Janeiro.
According to the Brazilian newspaper Fohla De Sao Paolo, the concertgoer fainted after experiencing heat exhaustion while at the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos stadium.
Her death was confirmed by her cousin, Estela Benevides, who revealed to the publication that Ana suffered a cardiac arrest before being rushed to the Salgado Filho Municipal Hospital, where she ultimately died of cardiorespiratory arrest.
BBC News reports that Benevides died before the 'Love Story' songstress took to the stage when the show began at around 7:30PM local time.
Swift has since responded to Ana's death on Instagram, issuing a heartbreaking statement that read: "I can’t even tell you how devastated I am by this. I can’t believe that I’m writing these words, but it is with a shattered heart that I say we lost a fan earlier tonight before my show."
"There’s very little information I have, other than the fact that she was so incredibly beautiful and far too young," she continued, before stating that she would not be talking about the death on stage that evening.
"I want to say now I feel this loss deeply and my broken heart goes out to her family and friends," the 'You Belong With Me' star said, adding that this was the "last thing I thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil."
Read Swift's statement below:
Friday night's show in Rio de Janeiro was the first of three Eras Tour performances in Brazil, with the next shows occurring on Saturday (November 18) and Sunday (November 19).
The 'Love Story' singer's concert in Brazil coincided with the dangerous heat wave, with Folha reporting the heat index - or apparent temperature - inside the packed stadium reached 60C.
Several audience members complained on social media that they were banned from bringing water bottles inside the stadium even though there was scorching warmth. However, this claim has not been confirmed as of this writing.
Footage shared online showed the Grammy-winning musician herself pausing the show multiple times to ask organizers to distribute bottles of water among audience members. At one point, while singing her hit 'All Too Well', Swift was seen throwing a water bottle into the crowd, BBC News reports.
At one point, the 'Anti-Hero' singer said: "Sorry it’s just very hot so when somebody says they need water and it's this hot, they really need it."
Swifties around the world are now mourning the loss of Ana on social media, with many sending their condolences to the young woman's family and friends.
The late fan's friend took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share a sweet video of her singing a song by Swift. She captioned the clip (translated from Portuguese to English): "Benevides' dream has always been to see Taylor."
"It hurts to know what happened and even more so that it may have been due to the guys' negligence in prohibiting people from bringing water in. Rest in peace Benevida," they added.
Our thoughts are with Ana's family and friends at this devastating time.
At the stroke of midnight tonight, party poppers will blare, confetti will dance through the air, and another year comes to an end. Some of us lost loved ones; some of us gained them. Some of us experienced skyscraping success; others unspeakable hardship. We laughed, we cried, we danced, we died, and tomorrow we continue the spine-tingling ride, playing the bittersweet song of life.
And what better way to say goodbye to 2018, than Ariana Grande's hit single 'thank u next?' In the song, she bids goodbye to her exes, while thanking them for the wonderful memories. One of these exes is rapper Mac Miller, who tragically died at the age 26 from an accidental drug overdose. Another ex is Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson; the pair got engaged in May, and broke up in October.
(Also, the 'thank u next' music video is an entertaining homage to 90's comedies Clueless, Mean Girls and Legally Blonde. If it doesn't cheer you up, you're not bending and snapping enough.)
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Following these tumultuous events, Ariana Grande cancelled her New Year's Eve performance in Las Vegas, citing health concerns. "Vegas, I'm currently working through some health issues and am beyond sorry I won't be able to see you this weekend," she wrote on Instagram Stories. "I love you and so look forward to seeing u and making it up to u next year."
This would have been the singer's first major show since her break-up with Pete Davidson. The Arianators might be disappointed, but hopefully they - and everyone - understand the importance of self-care. Mental health issues have had a stigma in society for too long, with unhappy people turning to substances for comfort instead.
Mac Miller famously struggled with substance abuse. Again, the coroner's report revealed the overdose was accidental, due to mixed drug toxicity, a fatal combination of fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol. On December 31, Ariana shared a sweet photo of Mac Miller - well, just his hands playing the piano. She then deleted it, while providing no explanation.
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However, afterwards Grande shared another Instagram post that reflected her state of mind:
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"farewell 2018, you f***," she humorously wrote in the caption. "i hope this new year brings you all much laughter, clarity and healing. ? be gentle with yourselves and each other. if we made it thru this last year, we’ll for sure make it thru this one. thank you for everything. ?"
Another year brings new memories; new lovers and new enemies; new gladness and new sadness. Whether you're rich or poor, old or young, an Arianator or a Juggalo, the gift of time unwraps with the last seconds of 2018. 2019 appears with the promise of a crisp white sheet of paper, which we will each color in our own vibrant way.
To the new year, we toast champagne and watch sparkling fireworks season the sky. And to the old year, we say 'thank u, next.'
Fetty Wap's four-year-old daughter's cause of death has been revealed amid tributes from the rapper.
The toddler, named Lauren Maxwell, tragically passed over the weekend, with the tragic news being revealed by her mother, Turquoise Miami, who was in a relationship with rapper Fetty, 30, at the time of Lauren's birth on February 7, 2017.
Now, a death certificate obtained by TMZ has revealed that the child died as a result of a fatal cardiac arrhythmia, brought on by complications from congenital cardiac anomalies.
According to the certificate, Lauren passed away at her home in Riverdale, Georgia, on June 24.
Lauren was born with cardiac anomalies, and WebMD reports that a cardiac arrhythmia is an irregular heartbeat.
Announcing her death on August 1, Turquoise wrote on Instagram: "This is my amazing, beautiful, funny, vibrant, loving, talented, smart and hardheaded princess mermaid Aquarius.
"If you see this post scrolling by with her comment or just say to yourself 'I love you LAUREN' because they say that souls can feel your love #rip."
Fetty himself broke down on Instagram Live as he paid tribute to his daughter and asked fans to post butterflies on social media in her honor.
The 'Trap Queen' rapper said: "Man. Man. Thank y'all, yeah? That's love. I appreciate ya'll, for real. Damn. That's love. She'd be happy as hell."
Watch the heartbreaking video below:"Thank y'all, yeah? I appreciate y'all. Look at my little twin right there. Will y'all do me a favor, though? For real. Y'all can do me a favor? Just post all butterflies," he continued.
"All butterflies. Shorty loved butterflies. Look at my little baby. Look at my little twin right there. I love you."
Fans subsequently flooded the comments section of the live video with butterfly emoji.
Fetty also paid tribute to his daughter on his Instagram feed on August 4, posting a picture of the late four-year-old that was captioned: "Hey mini me (My Twin)…. I love you to the moon and back forever and ever bestfriend [sic]."
Metro reports that this is the latest heartbreak for the rapper, who also lost his younger brother, Twyshon Depew, last year.
