New ‘Rihanna Tree’ planted at the site of her infamous video shoot in Bangor

It’s over ten years since Rihanna took to a barley field in County Down to film the video for her 2011 banger, We Found Love.

Here’s a Reeling in the Years refresher incase you’ve forgotten the historic event – skip to 3.05 minutes in, just after Enda Kenny giving it large in the Dáil.

Famously, the owner of the field (identified by Belfast Live as former DUP councillor, Alan Graham), put a stop to filming after taking issue with nudity in the video.

According to Belfast Live, a vehicle belonging to the production team became stuck during filming, and Mr Graham arrived with a tractor to help pull it out. However, when he saw what Rihanna was wearing, he asked her to “put her clothes back on”.

Other scenes were filmed in a fish and chip shop in Belfast, where a regular remarked: “Rihanna dancing on the table? If I came in here and danced on the table, they’d bar me!” while tucking into his fish supper.

Anyway, back to the field.

Since the video was filmed there, a tree in the field known as the ‘Rihanna tree’ has become “one of the most photographed trees in Northern Ireland”, and a huge tourist attraction for visiting Rihanna fans. However, over the years the oak tree has been damaged by storms, and is now believed to be completely dead.

Mr Alan Graham posing beside the ‘Rihanna Tree’, image via BBC News.

With that in mind, Mr Graham has decided to plant a new cherry tree beside the old one, to mark two important milestones.

Believe it or not, neither of them are the eleven year anniversary of the music video scandal.

Mr Graham told Belfast live the new tree was planted to celebrate 50 years of marriage with his wife, Winifred, as well as the Queen’s Jubilee.

He said:

I don’t know what nickname they’ll eventually put on this tree. Perhaps they’ll name it after Rihanna’s new baby – but to me it’s the Platinum Jubilee tree.

It’ll always be Fenty Beauty Tree to us.

Header image via Youtube 

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