Rihanna is believed to be pocketing a cool $3 million for her one-night gig in Abu Dhabi later this year.
The pop princess is rolling into the UAE capital with her ‘Diamonds’ world tour on Saturday, October 19 when she will perform at the du Arena on Yas Island.
It’s her only show in the Middle East during this tour - and a gig that a top-level music source claims will leave Rihanna’s bank balance shining very brightly.
“Rihanna’s getting $3 million for her gig in Abu Dhabi,” the industry insider told 7DAYS.
“That’s a high amount - the same that Eminem got for his show at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year.”
A UAE-based music industry expert agreed that paying the Bajan beauty
$3 million for her set - which will last about 90 minutes - was “high”.
The music guru claimed Rihanna was looking for “$2 million to $2.25 million to play in Dubai last year”.
“$3 million is a lot more money than she’d be looking at in the US or Europe,” the music expert said. “She’d be getting about $1.5 million to $2 million [a show] there.”
However, the industry expert said promoters should have no problem making their money back on RiRi.
He said: “If you have a sponsor behind you, they will usually pay $500,000 to $1 million - the brand being associated with an act like Rihanna is a big thing.
“Then you’ve just got a $2 million fee - and Rihanna will sell out. You’ll have 25,000 to 30,000 people there.”
Tickets for the Abu Dhabi show are priced at Dhs250 to Dhs1,295.
In her track ‘Pour it Up’, Rihanna purrs: “All I see is dollar signs, Ohhh… Money on my mind.” She has appeared in the UAE once before - a New Year’s Eve show in Abu Dhabi in 2009.
A spokesperson for Flash, the organiser of Rihanna’s gig in Abu Dhabi, said they would not comment on the matter.
…But tribute act has rock bottom free
Rihanna may be rocking in to the tune of $3 million in Abu Dhabi this year, but she was more than happy to play a hit-laden set at Rock Bottom in Bur Dubai on Friday night for considerably less.
Hailing all the way from Ayrshire in Scotland, tribute act ‘Rhanna’ is on her own worldwide tour at the moment.
Rhanna, aka Amy Wilson, 21, played the popular Regent Palace Hotel nightspot on the back of two gigs in Bahrain. She may be sharing the same jet-set lifestyle as RiRi right now - flights
and accommodation are, of course, included - but Rhanna said her pay packet doesn’t quite hit the $3 million mark. “It’s around £100 [Dhs555] for a 45-minute show,” she said.
Earlier this month, UK tabloid The Sun revealed that Rihanna’s dressing room demands include an area “crammed with candles, flowers and a six-foot long white couch - not made of leather”.
The delightful Rhanna’s wish list? Slightly more down to earth. “Red Bull, water - and bread and butter,” she said.
By Duncan Hare
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