 Eminem performed " Love the Way You Lie " on the second day of Chicago 's annual Lollapalooza festival on August 6 , 2011 . Members of the audience sang the chorus to compensate for Rihanna 's absence . Piet Levy of USA Today named the show a " tragic stunner " , while Katie Hasty of HitFix added that it displayed competition between the sexes . Eminem and Rihanna performed in Staffordshire on the first day of V2011 ( V Festival ) , on August 20 , 2011 . James Lachno of The Daily Telegraph considered it an " affecting " rendition . The Guardian called their performance thrilling and an editor for the British newspaper Metro felt that it was the best part of the evening . Eminem closed the festival on the night of August 21 in Chelmsford , Essex , for an audience of 120 @,@ 000 . A reporter for the International Business Times thought that Eminem 's duet with Rihanna was the highlight of the show . 
