Photo Credit: Apple Music
Rihanna took the stage at Super Bowl LVII to deliver a Halftime Show filled with her greatest hits.
The singer and fashion mogul too the stage for a 13- minute set full of hits. The show featured dancers clad in white on multiple levels, all dancing as Rihanna descended from her platform to continue the show. Some of the hits she sang included “Bitch Better Have My Money,” “Work,” “Rude Boy,” “Diamonds,” and “Umbrella.” No official word on whether she’s pregnant or not, but she seemed to hint that she might be.
Tonight was Rihanna’s first live performance since 2018 at the Grammys alongside DJ Khaled. Before the big show, Rihanna admitted she studied Beyonce’s Super Bowl Halftime performance to prep herself for the show. “I watched Beyonce’s halftime performances a couple of times,” Rihanna told Nate Burleson on the NFL podcast, The Process. “She is a beast and a whole other level. Just to be inspired, really.”
Beyonce headlined the 2013 Super Bowl Halftime Show as a solo act, then returned in 2016 with Coldplay and Bruno Mars. Rihanna says coming back from ‘nothing’ to headlining a Super Bowl halftime show was scary for her.
“I haven’t performed in seven years,” Rihanna continues. “2016 was my last tour—that to me was the last time I remember being out there on the stage. To come back from zero to the Super Bowl, that’s kind of nuts,” she says.
To help open the show, country mega star Chris Stapleton sang the national anthem this year. Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph performed “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” while Babyface performed “America the Beautiful.”
It was great to see Rihanna on stage again, but the pay is in exposure rather than big bucks. None of the A-list performers who do the Super Bowl Halftime Show get paid—though the exposure certainly helps their streaming numbers. When Lady Gaga took the stage in 2017, her album and song sales exploded 1,000% following her show. Meanwhile, J Lo racked up 2.3 million new followers across social media after she took the stage with Shakira in 2020.