For a singer whose new album is called “Unapologetic,” Rihanna is sure doing a lot of apologizing.
To promote her new album, Rihanna initiated the overly ambitious 777 world tour which found her playing seven countries in just seven days. In addition to the usual entourage of assistants, managers and the like, she was joined by contest-winners and myriad journalists.
Taking the group to Los Angeles, Mexico City, Toronto, Stockholm, Paris, Berlin, London and New York, the booze-fueled trek was hampered by flight delays, endless waiting, cramped bus rides, and a distinctive lack of Rihanna, who reportedly hardly interacted with the fans after an initial meet-and-greet and appeared to avoid the journalists entirely.
The writers, suffering from a lack of sleep and extreme boredom, resorted to chanting taunts like “Just one quote!,” creating faux “missing” fliers for Rihanna and, in one reported case, streaking on the plane. Likewise, some of the contest winners complained to the singer’s manager about the second class treatment.
Rihanna apologized for the disappointing trip. “I know you guys got barely any dirt,” Us Weekly reports she told the writers, “but I had to be good. I still sound [bad]. It’s impossible to spend time with everybody, and I’m sorry I didn’t. But this was excellent and I would definitely do it again.”
She added that her throat was a concern. “Normally, I’d be back here popping bottles with y’all … I had to preserve my voice,” she claimed. “I was worried about my body more than partying on the plane, so I had to just sleep whenever I could. I hope you guys had as much fun as I did.”
Rolling Stone contributor Jeff Rosenthal breaks down the experience here, and it doesn’t sound like he had too much fun.
Meanwhile, Rihanna just tied Madonna with her twelfth No. 1 single, “Diamonds.”
“Unapologetic” is available now.