Indeed, the anticipation for Rihanna’s much-buzzed-about Super Bowl halftime show — midway through the big game, with the Philadelphia Eagles leading the Kansas City Chiefs, 24-14 — was ratcheted up so high simply because the 34-year-old singer is practically coming out of semi-retirement as a performer. (Pregnancy buzz erupted online early in her performance — and was confirmed by reps shortly after her set.)
This was a moment that the Navy — as Rihanna’s fans are known — has been waiting for, even if it happened in a surprise club cameo downtown at S.O.B.’s.
Instead, that comeback performance happened on the biggest of all stages at State Farm Arena in Glendale, Arizona. And the singer delivered with a show that reminded you just how many hits that she had — with no need for guest collabs to pad out her set.
Rihanna grooved through a string of hits during her Super Bowl halftime show performance.AFP via Getty Images; Getty Imag
Kicking off with “Bitch Better Have My Money” — riding one of the floating platforms that she and her white-suited dancers had — a red-outfitted Rihanna seemed to be reminding us all of just who she was when she sang, “Don’t act like you forgot.”
Given her vast catalog, it was an edgier choice than might have been expected for the Super Bowl, but it was clearly her statement that she wasn’t going to play the game for the NFL.
Similarly, “Where Have You Been” played differently as a comeback number than it might otherwise have. It was as if to say, “I’ve been everywhere, man,” while announcing that she’s officially back.
Then she ran through a string of hits including “Only Girl (In the World),” “We Found Love,” “Rude Boy,” “Work,” “Umbrella” and, in a surprise, “Pour It Up,” while also doing songs in which she was a featured artist, including “Wild Thoughts,” “All of the Lights” and “Run This Town.”
But she brought it all home with one of her best — and biggest — songs as a solo artist: “Diamonds,” on which she shined her brightest of the night.
Rihanna is pregnant, reps can confirm.USA TODAY SportsRihanna performs during the halftime show of Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium.Getty Images
Rihanna — who reportedly had previously turned down the Super Bowl in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick’s long battle with the NFL — had been largely MIA from music before dropping her “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” single “Lift Me Up” in October. Before that, her last studio album, “Anti,” was released way back in 2016.
After that, the singer turned her focus to her Fenty Beauty business and her Savage x Fenty lingerie line, becoming a billionaire in the process. And she’s been making major moves in her personal life too, giving birth to her first child — a son whose name has not been revealed — in May 2022.
So clearly — 18 after years after the Barbados-born star released her debut single, “Pon de Replay” — this is all the beginning of Rihanna 2.0. And we are all here for it.