Rihanna's Vocals at Girls Love Karaoke Event Shocks Her Fans After 'Needed Me' Mishap

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Rihanna is making headlines for her singing, for better or worse.

The fashion mogul appeared at the Girls Love Karaoke event in New York City on Dec. 29 where she took to the stage to perform some of her songs like "Sex With Me" and "Needed Me." However, it is the latter that is drawing ire from fans.

The performance starts off strong and Rihanna sings with the backing track. However, the person in charge of the music suddenly cuts out the music and Rihanna is left to sing the chorus on her own. She gives it a try, but appears to have a hard time executing the vocal run on the phrase "needed me."

The music then appears to transition to her song "Unfaithful" before the clip cuts out.

The clip has garnered criticism from fans over the less-than stellar vocal performance by the singer.

"That doesn't sound right somehow," one user commented.

"All that long hiatus and the blunts, she is so rusty now with the singing," added another.

Other simply reacted with their own reaction clips.

Rihanna has notably been absent from music for many years. Her last album was 2016's Anti, which spawned the hits "Work," "Love on the Brain" as well as the track she sang during the event, "Needed Me."

Since then, she has dropped occasional singles here and there. Since 2020, she has dropped the singles "Believe It" with PartyNextDoor as well as the No. 2-peaking "Life Me Up" from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.

During her heyday Rihanna was one of the most reliable hitmakers, earning 14 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the third-most of all time. Only Mariah Carey and the Beatles have more with 19 and 20 respectively.

Her performance comes after the singer has reportedly retired from music all together to focus on her Fenty brand products. They have been successful and have helped her amass a net worth of $1.4 billion.

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Rihanna, Music
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