Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Will Mark Her Return To Live Performance

Fans of Rihanna are eagerly anticipating her appearance at the Super Bowl halftime show, one of the most prestigious performances in music.

The singer will perform during the halftime interval between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday.

Since 2016’s Anti, Rihanna has not toured or released an album. The celebrity has instead focused on her fashion line and gave birth to her first child last year.

Nevertheless, she did record a new song for Marvel’s Wakanda Forever last year.

Lift Me Up, which appears on the Black Panther sequel’s soundtrack, is Rihanna’s first new solo single in six years and has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Fans anticipate that the 34-year-old superstar’s Super Bowl performance will be the precursor to a larger musical return later this year.

The singer said on Thursday that it was initially “scary” to accept the invitation and take on one of music’s biggest stages. “I haven’t been on stage for seven years,” she said, speaking at a press conference ahead of the big game.

But she said that it was important to her to be “representing for immigrants, representing for my country, Barbados, representing for black women everywhere.”

No one knows for certain which songs will be selected. Halftime show set lists and a performer’s special guests are kept secret in order to surprise fans on game day.

“The setlist was the biggest challenge,” Rihanna told Apple Music on Thursday. “You’re trying to cram 17 years of work into 13 minutes.”

However, the performer should be able to fit in quite a few of her many hits, given that they frequently perform only snippets of songs in order to cover more of their back catalogue.

Super Bowl Schedule

The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL). It is played every year to decide who wins the league.

The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the Kansas City Chiefs at State Farm Stadium in Arizona this season.

The Super Bowl LVII (the Roman numerals indicate this is the 57th year) will take place on Sunday, February 12 at 23:30 GMT (18:30 ET/16:30 MST). The game will begin at 18:30 ET/16:30 MST.

The game typically lasts approximately three and a half hours, with a 30-minute intermission during which an A-list pop star is hired to entertain the crowds.

UK viewers can watch the game and halftime show live on ITV1 and the recently launched streaming service ITVX, with coverage beginning at 22:45 GMT. It is also being shown on Sky Sports, starting at 22:00.

There will be live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and live text on the BBC Sport website and app, which will also have post-match video highlights.

In the US, it will air on Fox and also streamed on the Fox Sports website and app, the NFL+ app, as well as on Hulu, fuboTV, Roku TV, and Sling TV.

Rihanna won’t be the only star involved in the Super Bowl proceedings. Coda star Troy Kotsur, who won an Oscar last year for his performance in the Apple TV film, will sign the US national anthem this year.

Super Bowl Legacy

Due to the astronomically large TV audience in the United States and around the world, headlining the Super Bowl is one of the most prestigious and lucrative gigs in music.

Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent’s halftime show received an additional 160 million YouTube views last year.

YouTube has become an increasingly significant aspect of the impact of halftime shows in recent years. The 2020 halftime show, which was led by Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, got 264 million plays, the most of any halftime show to date.

Lady Gaga, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and Michael Jackson have been featured as headliners at the Super Bowl in the past.

Given how many people watch, a well-received performance with a lot of hits can have a big effect on an artist’s streaming and sales in the weeks after the Super Bowl. 

What’s Next for Rihanna?

Rihanna’s return to live performances has sparked speculation that new music could be on the horizon.

The singer used to put out a new album every year, but after 2016’s “Anti,” she took a long break from music, only coming back to work with other artists now and then.

Her most recent truly massive hit was 2017’s Wild Thoughts, a collaboration with DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller that they performed at the Grammy Awards the following year.

Since then, she has had her first child with A$AP Rocky and has continued to develop her fashion and cosmetics brand, Fenty.

Consequently, music has taken a back seat, but in 2022 she released Lift Me Up, her first new solo single in six years.

Source – Tru News Report