Rihanna returned to the stage in London last night with a little help from her friends. Performing her first concert since her February 8th altercation with Chris Brown, the singer performed a 45-minute set featuring hits and new songs off her upcoming Rated R, as well as two special guest appearances by Jay-Z and Young Jeezy. Rihanna, wearing a now-trademark eye mask and leotard ensemble, kicked off the show with Rated R’s first two singles “Wait Your Turn” (watch it above) and “Russian Roulette” before launching into her past chart-toppers like “Disturbia,” “Take a Bow” and “Don’t Stop the Music,” the BBC reports.
Rihanna’s fierce fashions: check out photos of the star onstage and off.
Rihanna performed at London’s Brixton Academy for the launch of the Nokia X6, and the performance was streamed live globally. Midway through the set, Young Jeezy emerged to perform his Rated R collaboration “Hard,” but the real surprise came in the encore, when Jay-Z appeared to perform both “Run This Town” and “Umbrella.” As Rolling Stone noted yesterday, both Jay-Z and Kanye West were on hand for Beyoncé’s London concert the night before, West didn’t make it out for “Run This Town” at Brixton.
After breaking her silence about the Brown assault in a high-profile interview two weeks ago, last night’s concert was the final hurdle Rihanna had to clear to officially get her career back on track. Rihanna previously performed “Run This Town” with Jay-Z and West on the premiere episode of The Jay Leno Show, but this marked the first time since February she appeared live in front of a large audience. Rated R is out November 23rd.
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Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily