In 2011 Rihanna visited Nottingham whilst on tour, it's then that she supposedly popped into the Hockley store Grillzs 4 U for some new teeth bling. We looked into the story more for this month's Truth or Legend...
Over the past ten months we have been vigorously interrogating Nottingham’s urban myths and legends to give you, the people, the answers you all deserve. With every article striving to leave no stone unturned, LeftLion has become the East Midlands’ answer to the cheesefest that was MythBusters: whether we’re covering the sinister Barbeque-Death-Ray outside of the Nottingham Playhouse, or the ghastly ‘White Lady’ haunting Wollaton Hall. This week we will be taking on one of Nottingham’s most controversial cases to answer the question: did Rihanna really have a set of grillz made in Hockley?
According to urban legend, during her 2011 Loud Tour of the UK, Rihanna’s entourage were taking in the sights whilst roaming around Hockley when they spotted a place where the megastar could gain some shiny new teeth jewellery. Rihanna’s team of bargain hunters were instantly drawn into the notion that she could take home a piece of Nottingham with her. At first, Neville from Grillzs 4 U thought it was a wind-up until he got an email from one of her team asking to have a set of six teeth diamond encrusted gold grillz to be custom made for the superstar.
It is believed that after her performance at the Motorpoint Arena, formerly known as the Capital FM Arena at the time, her entourage went through with the deal. In Rihanna’s music video for You Da One eagle eyed viewers can spot a glimpse of the East Midlands as she showcases the diamond encrusted grillz in recurring segments of the video.
In fact, 2011 was the last time Rihanna performed in front of a Nottingham audience. During her 2011 tour she was supported by Calvin Harris, who had released Feel So Close three months prior to the tour date. That statement only makes me Feel So Old. Whilst the closest we can probably get to seeing her in association with Notts again is through looping her You Da One music video, members of the Rihanna Navy can visit Grillzs 4 U’s shop front in Hockley which proudly states ‘We made Rihanna’s Grillz.’ Legend has it that upon collection of the grillz, Rihanna was instantly inspired by their glistening shine and soon after wrote her smash hit Diamonds. Unfortunately, we were unable to get any confirmation from the global megastar, but one can only assume it to be true.
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