Rihanna Says Sorry To ‘777 Tour’ Journalists

The blogging crew at Pollstar wasn’t represented amongst the 150 lucky journalists along for the ride on Rihanna’s 777 Tour. But maybe that makes us the lucky ones. The global seven-day excursion, which ended Nov. 20, generated all sorts of complaints from the press.

The plan for the extravagant, whirlwind trip was for Rihanna to promote her new album (her seventh in seven years) by playing seven shows in seven days in seven countries, while traveling on a Boeing 777 twinjet with a group of fans and 150 journalists representing 82 countries.

Photo: AP Photo
Wireless Festival, Hyde Park, London, UK

The journey began Nov. 14 in Mexico City and included stops in Toronto, Stockholm, Paris, Berlin and London before wrapping up in New York City.

Apparently, the journalists never really got to see the destinations or spend much time with Rihanna. Reports that rolled in from the press traveling on the 777 Tour told of an adventure made up of not much sleep, not much daylight, and lots of waiting around in buses and airports.

Journalists complained about not much to write about – besides the Australian shock-jock radio host who streaked through the plane, or the fake Rihanna poster one person printed out to question the singer’s lack of interaction with the 777 gang. One “anonymous captive journo” told Gawker that a frequent complaint was being trapped on a bus and not getting a chance to use the bathroom.

US Weekly reports that before the tour landed in New York City on the final day, Rihanna made an appearance onboard the Boeing 777 to talk to the press.

“Guess what, we made it! This has been an experience [that] I will never ever forget,” Rihanna said, according to US Weekly. “I barely slept. My sleeping was all done on this plane. I want to thank everyone for making this trip the sh**. I want to see the naked Australian! … I know you guys got barely any dirt. But I had to be good. I still sound like sh**. 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.”

Rihanna returns to the stage in March for her Diamonds World Tour in support of her latest release, Unapologetic.