Rihanna has already become an enormously successful singer, a business mogul with a net worth of more than $1 billion, and a mother as of last year.
On Sunday, the multihyphenate added another achievement to his resume: Super Bowl halftime show headliner.
Rihanna stormed the State Farm Stadium stage in Glendale, Arizona, with her most visible performance in seven years, showcasing her flexible R&B grooves combined with infectious pop hooks. Her distinct fashion sense, of course.
Rihanna, who turns 35 next week, began the 13-minute performance on a futuristic-style hovering platform with “Bitch Better Have My Money,” as a troupe of white jumpsuit dancers shimmied beneath her. Quick transitions into “Where Have You Been” and “Only Girl (In The World)” set off fireworks during “We Found Love,” her fizzy banger with Calvin Harris.
Is Rihanna pregnant once more?
Rihanna’s pulsing hits, including “Rude Boy,” “Wild Thoughts,” and a seductive “Work,” flowed in succession as she strided among her dancers with liquid moves on the red-lighted stage to match her baggy Loewe jumpsuit, which highlighted a baby bump.
“Is Rihanna pregnant again?” became a trending topic on Google Trends during the performance, as Rihanna gently patted her stomach at one point, causing fans to speculate. Her representative confirmed her pregnancy to The Associated Press after the show.
Prior to the game, Rihanna hinted in interviews that she was “thinking about” bringing a special guest to her performance, implying that the performance would serve as her reveal.
Intricate camera work, including an upside-down shot of the stage, added visual flair for TV viewers as Rihanna strode through “Pour It Up” and eventually twerked.
A quick powdering of her nose, an obvious nod to her Fenty Beauty makeup line, preceded “All of the Lights,” her 2011 hit with Kanye West, as even more dancers (perhaps some lucky Rihanna Navy members?) stormed the field.
The opening notes of “Run This Town” flowed into “Umbrella,” implying a Jay-Z cameo, but Rihanna’s backing band and that flock of dancers surrounded her as she went airborne on her hovering platform once more.
The stadium came to a halt for, of course, “Diamonds,” which she sang confidently while seemingly enjoying the sparkling light show surrounding her.
The Barbados-born superstar has a trove of multi-platinum singles (including 9 million for “Work” and 8 million for “Umbrella,” according to the Recording Industry Association of America), and her Super Bowl debut included as many of her 14 No. 1 hits as possible.
Rihanna’s most recent album, “Anti,” was released in 2016, prompting fans to speculate that new music, or at the very least her first tour since the album’s release, would accompany her Super Bowl debut.
Since “Anti,” the nine-time Grammy Award winner has primarily focused on raising the profile of Fenty Beauty, which she founded in 2017. According to Forbes, the singer and businesswoman born Robyn Fenty has a net worth of $1.7 billion due to the success of Fenty and Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty lingerie line, which debuted in 2018.
She gave birth to her first child, a son, with longtime boyfriend A$AP Rocky in May. Though she has mostly kept details about her child private, Rihanna did share a TikTok video of the baby smiling and yawning in the backseat of a car in December.
Rihanna made a musical comeback last year with the ballad “Lift Me Up,” from the film “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The song lost best original song at the Golden Globes to “Naatu Naatu” (from the film “RRR”), but it is nominated for best original song at the Oscars on March 12.
While some have criticised Rihanna’s decision to perform at the 2023 Super Bowl, citing her refusal to accept an invitation in 2019 in support of the NFL’s ostracised quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the arrival of Jay-Z as an NFL consultant is likely to have played a role. The rapper/business mogul, who has partnered with the NFL to expand the league’s cultural influence, helped sign Rihanna to Def Jam Records when she was 16 years old. Rihanna is still a big name at Jay-Roc Z’s Nation label and entertainment company.
