Rihanna collaborated with Eminem on his track ‘Love the Way You Lie’, which was the second single from his album, Recovery. It was released on 8 June 2010 and quickly became the most successful collaboration Rihanna had ever done: it was No. 1 in 16 countries and was at the top of the US charts for seven consecutive weeks.
In the UK, ‘Love the Way You Lie’ only reached No. 2 in the charts, but ended up becoming the bestselling single of 2010. It was also the second bestselling single of 2010 in Canada. To date, it has sold more than nine million copies worldwide.
Rihanna and Eminem performed the track together at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards and during the 21 July performance of Rihanna’s ‘Last Girl on Earth Tour’. They also performed it at the 2011 Grammy Awards: they had been nominated for five awards that night but didn’t win any of them. However, they did pick up the Best Rap/Hip-Hop Track Award at the Teen Choice Awards, Best Song Hip-Hop of the Year at the Soul Train Awards, and Favourite Music Video and Favourite Song at the People’s Choice Awards.
In the video Rihanna and Eminem appear in some scenes, but the main story scenes were done by Megan Fox and Dominic Monaghan. Fox and Monaghan play lovers in an abusive relationship, who become physical, fight, steal and drink too much. It is clear that they should separate, but they don’t, because they love each other. In Rihanna’s scenes she sings outside the couple’s burning house, and the video ends with Eminem, Fox and Monaghan engulfed by flames. It was the first video Rihanna filmed with bright red hair.
The video became a record breaker when it was released on YouTube, as it had 6.6 million views in the first 24 hours, the most any video has ever had. Fans of both Rihanna and Eminem loved the track, and the wider music world also rated the video. It was considered so good that it could have been the trailer for a big blockbuster movie.
The track was so popular that they recorded ‘Love the Way You Lie (Part II)’, which had Rihanna singing the majority of the lyrics, with Eminem taking the supporting role. Rihanna hadn’t wanted to do this in the beginning because she felt that the first version had been so perfect that the Part II version would just look second best. Eventually Eminem was able to convince her to do so and the track they produced ended up being just as good as the first. They produced a few more versions in the end, one with just a piano accompaniment and another with just drums. Eventually, Rihanna liked ‘Love the Way You Lie (Part II)’ so much that she included it in her next album, Loud.
RiRi might have collaborated with Eminem, but he hasn’t become her best friend or anything, and their relationship is purely business-based. When Q Magazine asked her to tell them something they didn’t know about him, she couldn’t think of anything and replied: ‘Believe me, he is a mystery even to those who spend time with him. He is very reserved and he keeps things to himself. When he sent “Love The Way You Lie” to me, I thought it was an amazing song. Truly amazing lyrically, and that is what he is known for. That’s the reason why I did it. I have become numb to the idea that I am going to get sh*t for doing things that push boundaries and go to the edge. The song does go to the edge because he has a past and I have experienced bad things in the past.
‘It was a great piece of music and I went with it. Eminem is cool. Could I ring him for a chat? No, unless it’s about music. He doesn’t do a lot of small talk.’