Ariana Grande heartbroken by grandfather's death

Singer/actress Ariana Grande is nursing a broken heart after her beloved grandfather died on Tuesday (22Jul14).

The Problem hitmaker's maternal granddad was hospitalized with a mystery ailment earlier this month (Jul14), prompting the star to cancel an Independence Day (04Jul14) performance in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to be by his hospital bedside in Florida.

However, his health continued to deteriorate and he passed away on Tuesday.

Grande, who had to fly to New York immediately after his death to prepare for an early morning TV appearance, took to her Twitter.com blog on Wednesday morning (23Jul14) to share her heartbreak with fans and thank them for their ongoing support.

In a series of posts, she wrote, "thank you for your continuous love & light over the past few weeks... we did lose my favorite person to ever exist yesterday, my grandpa

"if only y'all knew how amazing he was.. my (heart) hurts so much. It's beyond broken but I got to hold his hand and watch him find his peace... this is the hardest thing imaginable but I'm so grateful that I got to spend this time with him & my family. taking care of him & loving him... we thank you so much for the continuous love".

She admits she stayed up all night crying as her best friends comforted her, adding, "only reason I made this twelve hour trip (to New York) is grandps (sic) told me he wanted me to always be professional & fulfill (sic) my business commitments."

Grande also reveals her half-brother Frankie is unaware of the family death as he is currently competing on reality show Big Brother - and it was her grandfather's last wish to make sure the aspiring actor/dancer did not lose on his account.

She writes, "asked grandps last week if he wanted us to pull frankie off bb & he said 'no way! he's gotta play the game even tho (though) i don't understand it'."