The real reason Rihanna cancelled her Grammys performance

SHE pulled out of performing at the 11th hour, citing bronchitis. However, insider sources say that was far from the truth.

Rihanna performs “Say You Say Me” at the MusiCares Person of the Year tribute honoring Lionel Richie at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

RIHANNA officially cancelled her Grammys performance due to “bronchitis,” but sources have exclusively told the New York Post’s Page Six it was just a ploy to get her out of the awards show at the 11th hour, because she feared giving a lacklustre performance.

“She felt like her performance couldn’t compare [to some of the other artists’], and she was trying to avoid the embarrassment because she knew it wasn’t the right comeback performance,” said an insider. “She said, ‘I’m not doing this’.”

Sources said RiRi rehearsed her tune Kiss It Better twice, but then got cold feet after seeing Kendrick Lamar and others rehearse.

Sing it, Ri-Ri (she did not at the Grammys). Picture: AP

Another source who saw the pop star’s rehearsals told us, “It was underwhelming. The performance was like a throwback to an ’80s talk show. James Corden was going to introduce her, and she was supposed to walk over, talk to him, then gyrate on the mike.”

The source continued: “People were watching like, ‘Oh, is that it?’ She was singing parts of the song live, but it had a lot of recorded vocals [in rehearsal]. We were surprised when she rehearsed the ballad [all the way through], because we thought she was going to kill it and come back with [her more upbeat single] Work. It didn’t seem like Rihanna.”

Producers then powwowed with her team. “It was an intense conversation. It didn’t seem like they were discussing a doctor’s note,” the Post was told.

Sources say Rihanna felt she wouldn’t live up to other performers like Kendrick Lamar. Picture: AFP

But another source said the singer “looked upset after rehearsals and a doctor came to see her ... after the doctor talked to her and told her the diagnosis, she was forced to pull out.”

On nights before the Grammys, Rihanna performed in a Lionel Richie tribute and partied at Up&Down in New York with Naomi Campbell for RiRi’s Fenty x Puma fashion show. The Anti hit maker also seems to have had a speedy recovery after the awards — she was back at Up&Down celebrating her 28th birthday days later.

And on Monday, she released two videos for Work, then reportedly partied in London until 5am with Drake. The duo’s expected to perform the song at the Brit Awards next week.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and is republished with permission.

Originally published as The real reason Rihanna cancelled her Grammys performance