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Kanye West Returns to the Stage at Beyonce's London Show

November 16, 2009 9:06 AM ET

Kanye West made his first high-profile public live appearance since his infamous stage crash at MTV's Video Music Awards in September, surprising the crowd at Beyoncé's concert at London's O2 Arena by performing his verse from the "Ego" remix last night. "Give it up for Kanye West," Beyoncé — who was the unsuspecting benefactor of West's VMAs rant — told the crowd as the MC emerged. Crowd footage of the guest spot on YouTube indicates fans seem to have forgiven Kanye for interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech, cheering loudly for West from his opening line to his swift exit after completing the verse. Jay-Z also popped up at his wife's London show, coming out for "Crazy in Love," NME reports. Jay made a similar cameo when Beyoncé's tour launched in New York.

Kanye West onstage and backstage: photos from his Glow in the Dark Tour.

hosting Saturday Night Live and picking up CMA awards, West has kept a relatively low profile, surfacing only on The Jay Leno Show to apologize to Swift and perform "Run this Town" with Jay-Z and Rihanna. West has since canceled his planned "Fame Kills" tour with Lady Gaga and stayed out of the public eye. Even his "We Were Once A Fairytale" short film with Spike Jonze had a confused release. Rumors had West escaping the scrutiny by going everywhere from rehab to India, but those claims remain unsubstantiated.

"I need to, after this, take some time off and just analyze how I'm going to make it through the rest of this life, how I'm going to improve," a remorseful West told Leno in September, acknowledging that what he did to Swift was "rude." West apologized to Swift, both publicly and privately, on several occasions, and now the 808s & Heartbreak rapper finally seems poised to resume his career.

Related Stories:
• Spike Jonze Talks Kanye's "We Were Once A Fairytale" Short Film
• Kanye West and Lady Gaga "Fame Kills" Tour Canceled
• Kanye West Calls His Taylor Swift VMAs Outburst "Rude" on "Leno"

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“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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