Wednesday 9 December 2009

Rihanna's new album named ‘Rated R’

Rihanna's fourth studio album is set to be released on November 23.

The record, titled 'Rated R', shares its name with Queens Of The Stone Age's second album, released in 2000.

Rihanna's 'Rated R' is the follow-up to 2007's 'Good Girl Gone Bad', and the first single will be 'Russian Roulette', which launches worldwide today (October 20) on radio and at rihannanow.com, the singer's website.
'Russian Roulette' was written and produced by Rihanna's long-term collaborater Ne-Yo. Other songs on the album have been written and produced by the likes of Chase & Status, Stargate, Justin Timberlake, The-Dream and Tricky Stewart.

Rihanna joined by Jay-Z in London

Rihanna was joined live on stage by mentor Jay-Z in London tonight (November 16) as she launched new album 'Rated R' at an exclusive live show.

The R&B princess put in a brief but epic performance at Brixton Academy in front of a crowd of competition winners and invited guests. The show was streamed live online by Nokia.

Debuting tracks from 'Rated R', which is released next week, the singer was also joined by rapper .

Taking the stage at shortly after 8pm, the Barbadian singer emerged onto a stage decked out with vintage television sets and silver mannequins. Wearing black fishnets, a black and silver leotard and a lace mask around her face, she jammed with the live band through album intro 'Madhouse', before playing future single 'Wait Your Turn', the song from which the viral album teaser refrain 'The Wait Is Ova' is taken.

The show then began in earnest with a dramatic rendition of new single 'Russian Roulette', throughout which Rihanna sat on a revolving white chair, before miming shooting herself in the head at the finale.

After a selection of hits from breakthrough record 'Good Girl Gone Bad', Rihanna was then joined by Jeezy for the new album track 'So Hard'.

But the main event was saved for the climax. As the opening strains of her recent Jay-Z collaboration opened up, it became apparent that the man himself was in the building, joining Rihanna from the back of the stage to rap his parts on the smash.

Jay-Z remained onstage for his opening sequence on the star’s signature hit 'Umbrella', which brought the show to its dramatic climax.

Rihanna played:

'Madhouse'
'Wait Your Turn'
'Russian Roulette'
'Don’t Stop The Music'
'Take A Bow' / 'Disturbia'
'So Hard'
'Live Your Life'
'Run This Town'
'Umbrella'

Rihanna to discuss Chris Brown assault on TV show

Rihanna has recorded a TV interview in which she discusses last February's assault which led to ex-boyfriend Chris Brown being sentenced to probation and community labour.
The interview, with presenter Diane Sawyer, will air on ABC shows 'Good Morning America' - on Thursday (November 5) at 7am (EST) - and on '20/20' on Friday (6) at 10pm.

The interview was the first time Rihanna has spoken publicly about the incident. In the interview she apparently describes Brown as her "first love" and said of the assault, "This happened to me, it can happen to anyone."

Chris Brown recently played his first gig since the February assault, in New Jersey – during which he thanked fans for their support "despite my past".
Rihanna has announced details of a UK arena tour for May next year.

The singer will play eight gigs on the tour, which kicks off in Birmingham on May 7 and includes a show at the London O2 Arena on May 10.

Rihanna will play:

Birmingham LG Arena (May 7)
Liverpool Echo Arena (8)
London O2 Arena (10)
Sheffield Arena (13)
Nottingham Trent FM Arena (14)
Manchester MEN (16)
Newcastle Metro Arena (17)
Glasgow SECC (19)