After seven days in seven countries — seven tour stops separated by long rides on a Boeing 777 — our long national nightmare is over: the Rihanna plane has landed in New York, carrying with it the 150 beleaguered fans and journalists who'd been held captive at the whim of their Barbadian mistress. But for many, the last few hours were the hardest.

Rihanna had disappeared. Flyers were distributed:

Exhaustion overtook the hostages.

But she emerged, for the first time since the plane had taken off a week ago, just before it landed in New York.

And with that, the hostages returned, to cheering throngs of Americans with yellow ribbons tied around their arms.


Throughout the #777Tour, Gawker.com will be bringing you updates about the status, location, activities and smells of the Rihanna Plane and its inhabitants, cobbled together from the infrequent, incomplete dispatches of the embedded Rihanna correspondents.