Rihanna Makes Return As Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show

Denise DeLeon-Diaz, Copy Editor

After Sunday’s championship games, the road to Super Bowl LVII has been set as the Philadelphia Eagles face off against the Kansas City Chiefs at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ. For many fans, the real show begins at halftime when pop icon Rihanna takes the stage to perform live for the first time in five years.

Image of football threading close up (Dave Adamson via Unsplash)

Apple Music sponsors this year’s halftime show for the first time, releasing Rihanna’s Road to Halftime on the platform. Legendary rapper Jay-Z and his Roc Nation label are working alongside Rihanna to prepare for the show. The halftime performance will take place on February 12 and is set to be an approximately 12-minute show. With an extensive catalog, Rihanna has been on the hush as to what people can expect. However, she has yet to disappoint with her many Number 1 hits. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the “What’s My Name?” singer stated, “I can’t believe I even said yes.” She continued, “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world. It’s an entertainer’s dream to be on a stage like that.”  

What is already set to be a historic Super Bowl, Rihanna’s highly anticipated performance has people wondering if this is her big return to music. The Grammy award winner hasn’t released a studio album since her 2016 album “Anti” which still continues to break records on the Billboard charts. The album has been on Billboard’s 200 Album charts for over 275 weeks making it the fifth longest-charting album by a female artist. Her last live performance was alongside DJ Khaled at the 2018 Grammys. 

Rihanna returned to the music scene after the September announcement of her pending performance with a feature on the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” soundtrack. Her song “Lift Me Up” peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard charts.

Though Rihanna leads a successful music career, she stepped away from the music scene to build an empire in beauty and fashion, collaborating with the sports clothing brand Puma before launching her own line. In 2017, she launched Fenty Beauty, which sky-rocketed her to billionaire success, making her the highest paid female musician with an estimated worth of $1.7 billion, according to Forbes.

This wasn’t Rihanna’s first offer to perform at the Super Bowl. In 2019, the pop star declined to take the stage, reportedly in solidarity with NFL athlete Colin Kaepernick. According to Vogue, Rihanna’s denial was to stand with Kaepernick’s kneeling protests against racial injustices, once stating “I couldn’t do that. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people.” 

Microphone. (User Bogomil Mihaylov via Unsplash)

Originally born in Barbados, Rihanna made her debut at just 16 years old in 2005. Since then, she’s led a busy and successful life. With many contributions to charity, Rihanna isn’t afraid to give back to her community and proudly carries them through her success. Her and boyfriend rapper A$AP Rocky welcomed their first child in May 2022, adding mother to her many reigning titles.

Watch the official trailer for Rihanna’s Halftime Performance released by Apple Music. https://youtu.be/0zHjohM7Obk