Rihanna Joins Jay-Z In Festival Surprise
Rihanna headlined Radio 1′s Hackney Weekend the day after surprising ecstatic fans by joining her mentor Jay-Z on stage.
The superstar duo performed their hit Run This Town, to the delight of the crowd at the two-day east London music festival.
As well as Rihanna, Jay-Z was also joined by Kanye West, whom he collaborated with on their album Watch The Throne. They performed a rousing and crowd-pleasing rendition of N****s In Paris twice and No Church In The Wild together.
After her appearance on Saturday, Rihanna topped the bill on Sunday, which also saw performances by Plan B and Florence And The Machine, Tinie Tempah, Jessie J and Professor Green.
Away from the main stage, Sunday’s performers also included Lana Del Rey, David Guetta, Zane Lowe, Chase and Status, Nas, Wretch 32, Taio Cruz and Santigold.
Fans were not discouraged by the wet weather at the free festival, with some 50,000 descending on the site.
A similar number turned out on Saturday to watch US hip hop star Jay-Z close the day’s event.
Other star performers on Saturday included American musicians Nicki Minaj, Will.i.am and Jack White as well as homegrown talent such as Leona Lewis, Example, Rizzle Kicks, Ed Sheeran and Michael Kiwanuka.
Lewis, who grew up in Hackney, spoke of her pride at performing on her home ground to open the BBC’s biggest free live event.
The X Factor winner said backstage: “I really wanted to open when they asked me to do it.
“When I went on I saw 30,000 people running towards the stage.
“It was lovely performing in front of a home crowd. It was good, I swear half the audience was my friends and family.”
MIA encountered problems with her microphone when she made a cameo appearance on stage in between Jay-Z’s set to perform two songs including Paper Planes.
She later thanked fans for alerting her to the issue.
US hip hop star Nicki Minaj brought sex appeal to the main stage in a black bondage-inspired leotard and pink Wellington boots.
Introduced by DJ Tim Westwood as “the greatest and sexiest hip-hop artist of all time”, the singer sang hits like Roman’s Revenge, Starships and Moment 4 Life.
Will.i.am brought a surprise guest in the form of Tyler James, his act from The Voice, on the BBC Radio 1Xtra stage.
Daryl Law, 33, from west London, said: “The line-up was awesome, considering it was a free event.
“The long queues to get in were worth it. It shone a much-needed positive light on Hackney. Hopefully this will be the first of many.”
Andrea Granic, 25, from Ealing, said: “Today was absolutely brilliant. Example and Swedish House Mafia were my favourite acts.”
