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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Seamus Duff

Travis Scott's comeback at Billboard awards after Astroworld tragedy divides opinion

Travis Scott has made his return to the spotlight six months after the tragic Astroworld festival disaster which saw a number of his fans killed.

The 31-year-old musician was a star performer at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on Sunday night where he took to the stage to perform his songs Mafia and Lost Forever.

His appearance on stage marked the first time he had performed on television since the Astroworld disaster on November 5 last year.

He had been on stage at the festival in the NRG Park in Texas when the audience surged, crushing 10 fans to death and injuring hundreds more.

Travis Scott returned to the spotlight at the 2022 Billboard Music Awards (NBC)

Billboard award host Sean 'Diddy' Combs and musician French Montana introduced Travis's performance, which was performed in front of an an icy landscape backdrop.

Travis’s return to the spotlight was met with a mixed reaction from viewers, with some praising his performance, while others criticised his inclusion.

One appreciative fan took to Twitter following his performance to remark: “Travis made the bbmas great.”

It was Travis' first televised performance since the 2021 Astroworld disaster (Getty Images)

But another fan tweeted: “the #BBMAs having travis scott perform is so beyond trashy lmao.”

Travis’s career stalled following his Astroworld performance, with some fans blaming him for the deaths of the audience members.

He was criticised for continuing to perform despite fans being crushed during his performance, and reports suggested he encouraging the crowd to "get wild" and "crazy”.

While a past history of allegedly inciting crowds to go wild was reexamined by outlets including Rolling Stone following the November 2021 tragedy.

Kylie Jenner joined Travis at the awards ceremony (Getty Images)

Billboard awards show host Diddy had specifically asked Travis to perform as part of Sunday night’s celebrations as he hoped to help him revive his career.

He announced ahead of the awards: "This just in.

“For the Billboard Music Awards this Sunday I made a request; I made a demand. I said, 'My brother Travis Scott has to perform. I'm executive producing, he has to perform,' and NBC said, 'Yes.’

“It's going down Sunday, Travis Scott will be performing … now that's love."

The rap legend also said: “One of the things I’m doing is uncanceling the canceled. That’s breaking news because people haven’t been about uncanceling. Canceling is a trend that needs to stop.”

Meanwhile, Travis was joined at the glitzy event by on-off girlfriend Kylie Jenner, 24, and their four-year-old daughter Stormi.

Kylie and Travis missed out on attending Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's wedding ceremony (Getty Images)

The musician and his girlfriend walked the red carpet together, while fans noticed Kylie and Stormi watching him perform inside the event from the audience.

Kylie’s inclusion at the event raised eyebrows as her eldest sister, Kourtney Kardashian, was getting married on the same day in Santa Barbara – with the reality star seemingly shunning the ceremony in order to attend the awards bash instead.

Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@mirror.co.uk or call us direct at 0207 29 33033.

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