Rita Ora continues to promote her new single Girls amid backlash from LGBTQ musicians over 'harmful' lyrics... as she hits stage in racy ensemble on UK tour

By Ryan Smith and Rianne Addo For Mailonline

Published: 01:05 BST, 17 May 2018 | Updated: 01:06 BST, 17 May 2018

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On Monday, she apologised for her latest single Girls, after she was criticised for using lyrics that members of the LGBTQ community dubbed 'harmful'.

But Rita Ora, 27, forged ahead with promoting the controversial track, in which she revealed that she was bisexual, on Wednesday, as she shared a link on Twitter after it was added to Spotify's playlist.

Her defiant promotion of the track came hours before she hit the stage in a racy ensemble at Birmingham's O2 Academy as part of her nationwide Girls tour.

Hitting the stage: Rita Ora performed at Birmingham's O2 Arena as part of her Girls tour on Wednesday night, hours after continuing to promote her controversial new single Girls

The star stepped onto the stage in her usual eye-catching style, donning a deeply plunging white embellished crop top, which featured long glittering and tasselled sleeves and shoulder cut-outs.

She teamed her barely-there top with matching bottoms, which featured tassels, sequinned seams and daring cutouts at the posterior.

Wearing her blonde hair in voluminous waves and highlighting her natural beauty with a generous serving of makeup, the star belted her way through a medley of chart-topping hits for appreciative fans.

Gushing note: After Spotify announced that it had added Rita's song to its list of new tracks, the star tweeted a link to the playlist, along with the gushing note

Glittering: The star stepped onto the stage donning a deeply plunging white embellished crop top, which featured long glittering and tasselled sleeves and shoulder cut-outs

Cut it out! The 27-year-old singer teamed her barely-there top with matching bottoms, which featured tassels, sequinned seams and daring cutouts at the posterior

Hair we go again: She wore her blonde hair in voluminous waves and highlighting her natural beauty with a generous serving of makeup

Hours earlier, after Spotify announced that it had added Rita's song to its list of new tracks, the star tweeted a link to the playlist, along with the gushing note: 'I love you @SpotifyUK! ❤️❤️❤️ #GIRLS on New Music Friday.'

On Monday, the Your Song hitmaker, took to her social media account to express her regret over unintentionally hurting members of the LGBTQ community, writing: 'I am sorry how I expressed myself in my song has hurt anyone.'

Revealing that the track was written from her personal standpoint, the Hot Right Now songstress added: 'Hello everyone reading this. Girls was written to represent my truth and is an accurate account of a very real and honest experience in my life.'

She added: 'I have had romantic relationships with women and men throughout my life and this is my personal journey.

On the road: The star has been touring the UK with her Girls tour, which kicked off in Glasgow

Medley of hits: The singer belted her way through a medley of her biggest hits for thrilled fans

Great body of work: She showed off her enviably toned body as she danced around onstage

'I would never intentionally cause harm to other LGBTQ+ people or anyone. Looking forward, I hope that continuing to express myself through my art will empower my fans to feel as proud of themselves as I'm learning to feel about who I am.

'I'm ever thankful to my fans for teaching me to love myself no matter what. I have strived to be a contributor to the LGBTQ+ community throughout my entire career and always will be. Love, Rita.'

The song - which features chart-topping artists Cardi B, Bebe Rexha and Charli XCX - aims to project female empowerment, while discussing themes of bisexuality and self-love.

However, the track has been met with criticism from artists from the LGBTQ community, with Hayley Kiyoko branding the song as 'just downright tone-deaf'.

Under fire: The Your Song hitmaker, 27, took to her highly-followed social media account to express her regret over unintentionally hurting members of the LGBTQ community

Viewpoint: The songstress revealed that the song was written from her personal standpoint

The Curious singer continued to express her opinions on social media last week, revealing that she believed the song 'does more harm than good for the LGBTQ+ community'.

The Los Angeles native added that she was 'overwhelmed with thoughts' and felt 'a song like this just fuels the male gaze while marginalizing the idea of women loving women'.

She added: 'It’s important for us artists to use our platforms to move the cultural needle forward, not backwards.'

Distraction hitmaker Kehlani also revealed her thoughts on the song, stating: ' I have an incredible song out with one of the artists, and would love to work with the other three as well. & have met them all and respect them. there. were. harmful. lyrics. period...'

Candid: The blonde beauty recently revealed she's bisexual as she dropped her latest single, which she dubbed a 'celebration of love'

The backlash against Rita's track comes after the singer touched on her romantic experiences with men and women.

During an interview with People, Rita - who has been dating songwriter Andrew Watt for over a year - was asked about whether the song is linked to her own sexuality.

She said: 'I knew people were going to look into it like that. I definitely said it because I can - and it was one of those things where, if I was 50/50… I'm not saying I'm 70/30.

'I'm 50/50, and I'm not gonna hide it. I'm not hiding what I am, who I am, if I wanna do this, if I wanna do that. That's just how it's gonna be.'

In support of her upcoming album, the Anywhere singer is currently on her third concert tour Girls, which she kicked off in Glasgow last week.