Kanye West: Kim Kardashian attends Donda event in wedding gown

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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West in 2020Image source, Getty Images

Kim Kardashian wore a wedding dress as she attended the latest "listening party" for her soon-to-be-ex husband Kanye West's new album Donda.

Her appearance was one of an eclectic flurry of publicity stunts at the event in West's hometown of Chicago.

Controversial rapper DaBaby and rock star Marilyn Manson, who has recently denied multiple accusations of sexual abuse, also attended the event.

West also unveiled a replica of his childhood home.

Almost 40,000 fans were invited to the Soldier Field stadium, where on-site vaccinations were offered to attendees.

It is the third time he has held a listening party for Donda, his 10th studio album, which is named after his late mother.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Kanye West held centre stage during the event

However the billionaire rapper, songwriter and businessman's album has had multiple delays since its promised release last year.

This listening party was his third, and it started two hours late - but his team said this time the album would actually be released soon afterwards.

West, who recently filed papers to change his name to Ye, has been finalising the album for several weeks.

This is how the evening panned out:

Kim K's grand entrance

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She may have filed for divorce from West in February, but this did not dampen Kardashian's enthusiasm for attending with the couple's four children in a Balenciaga wedding gown during No Child Left Behind, the final song of the night.

Unsurprisingly, this prompted fans to speculate that the pair could be getting back together.

Courting controversy

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West made his first appearance of the evening by emerging from his replica house while the word Donda was repeated, as black and white footage and photo collages of his mother were beamed onto a huge screen.

Accompanied by Manson and DaBaby, the three musicians stood on the porch of the replica home, surrounded by backing dancers in masks and dark-coloured uniforms as a cavalcade of SUV cars drove around the building.

West was accompanied by rocker Manson, who faces multiple allegations of sexual abuse, which he denies. In February Manson was dropped by his record label following claims by actress Evan Rachel Wood that she was "horrifically abused" by the musician.

Rapper DaBaby, who recently apologised for his comments about gay men and people with HIV, appeared to have replaced Jay-Z on the verse of one of the album's tracks, called Jail.

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Kanye West wore a bullet-proof vest at his first rally for US president last year

At a performance at Rolling Loud in Miami last month, DaBaby invited every audience member to "put your cell phone light up", apart from those who were HIV-positive or were gay men who had sex in car parks. He also made the false claim that HIV will "make you die in two or three weeks".

The rapper later said the comments were "hurtful and triggering", and that he appreciated the "education" he has received since.

DaBaby was removed from the line-ups of several US music festivals and dropped by clothing company Boohoo after making his initial comments.

Kanye's fire walk

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West emerged from his house in a suit of flames, before he appeared to join up with Kim Kardashian, again to much excitement from his fans. He appeared to be unscathed with the suit offering him flame-proof protection.

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West's mother was an English professor at Chicago State University who died aged 58 in 2007 after complications from cosmetic surgery.

The album named after her also features contributions from The Weeknd and Travis Scott, plus a sample from Lauryn Hill.

Donda West's death had a devastating impact on her Grammy-winning son, who also named a creative content company after her.

Since West last released an album, 2019's gospel-inspired Jesus Is King, he also launched a failed bid to become US president.