Katy Perry makes fans’ day with a surprise meet-up before Rock in Rio performance… after her new album 143 was savaged by critics

Katy Perry surprised fans at Rock in Rio by going into the crowd to hang out and take photos with them before her performance in Brazil on Friday night.

The Firework singer, 39, looked like part of the audience as she sat on the grass in front of a group of fans.

The American Idol judge — who was recently awarded the Video Vanguard award at the VMAs — wore a cute khaki crop top and shorts featuring studding on the collar and pockets.

Orlando Bloom’s partner wore her raven hair parted in the middle and stick straight.

She held her microphone in one hand and wore black sunglasses.

During her performance at the annual music festival the I Kissed a Girl hitmaker performed jaw-dropping aerial stunts as she sang.

The mother-of-one wowed in a nude-colored, latex bodysuit that clung to her toned frame, and contained silver, chrome embellishments on the shiny material.

Perry’s recently released album 143 and her lead single Women’s World have largely been panned by critics and fans alike.

Part of the backlash stems from the fact that Perry worked with Dr. Luke (real name: Łukasz Gottwald), the controversial music producer who was locked in a 10-year legal battle with Kesha over claims he had inflicted physical, sexual, and emotional abuse her.

Critics have panned Katy’s sixth album 143, with Variety calling it ‘flat, coasting on cascades of lyrical clichés and musical ideas that rarely crest. Across many of its 11 songs, Perry sounds disaffected and removed.’

The outlet noted that while Perry’s career was made on her bubble gum pop image, the industry has moved away from that sunny space to a more dark and confessional space with stars including Olivia Rodrigo stepping into the spotlight.

‘Little of the clever wit that emboldened some of her biggest hits peeks out on the album, a disappointing slide away from the savvy she once so effortlessly exuded,’ the review continued.

And fans haven’t forgiven Perry for working with Dr. Luke.

‘The miscalculation instantly soured the tone of a record poised as her comeback with the release Woman’s World, a hollow anthem predicated on self-empowerment platitudes that anyone would pick up in Feminism 101.

‘Add to the fact that Luke was involved and the hypocrisy rang clear,’ the review stated.

Katy’s new album is centered on ‘female empowerment,’ which left many fans ‘upset’ and ‘disappointed’ about Dr. Luke’s involvement.

Katy addressed the controversy for the first time on the Call Her Daddy podcast earlier this month.

She told host Alex Cooper that Dr. Luke was just ‘one of many’ producers featured on the album, and she bizarrely claimed that the songs were inspired by her own experiences.