“Rihanna” was already trending on Twitter forward of her much-anticipated Tremendous Bowl LVII halftime present, her first reside efficiency since 2019. However when the Fenty mogul appeared at Arizona’s State Life Stadium, “pregnant” grew to become a prime trending time period as properly.
Main press shops like The Unbiased, TMZ, PageSix, Pop Crave, Consequence, and The Solar all instantly jumped to the conclusion that Rihanna was pregnant together with her second baby, with the singer’s consultant confirming the glass ceiling-shattering information to The Hollywood Reporter and different publications about an hour later. Rihanna has now made historical past as the primary girl to headline a Tremendous Bowl halftime present whereas pregnant.
Whereas Rihanna didn’t make a giant, official being pregnant announcement on the large sport, a la Beyoncé’s onstage baby-bump reveal on the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, her repeated rubbing of her stomach — which was on distinguished show in a molded-breasted, avant-athleisure pink bodysuit with matching low-slung belt — was apparently the same sign. The pop icon first made the internet-breaking gesture throughout her opening quantity, a (censored) model of “Bitch Higher Have My Cash,” whereas suspended over the 50-yard line on a hydraulic illuminated glass platform; when she ascended again into the sky throughout her triumphant, fireworks-enhanced ultimate quantity, “Diamonds,” she gave her abdomen one other fast however impossible-to-ignore caress.
The 13-minute present’s noticeable lack of superior choreography, costume adjustments, and different large manufacturing methods — at the least in comparison with different latest halftime exhibits like final 12 months’s Dr. Dre-curated all-star hip-hop tour de power, the Weeknd’s pandemic-era high-concept spectacle, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira’s 2020 double-bill, or Girl Gaga’s electrifying 2017 look — additionally indicated that Rihanna was taking it straightforward for good motive.
And at last, whereas Rihanna wasn’t joined by any celebrity visitors throughout her 12-song medley — no Calvin Harris for “We Discovered Love,” no Drake for “Work,” not even Jay-Z for “Umbrella” — she had cheekily hinted to CBS’s Nate Burleson {that a} shock “particular visitor” would possibly seem onstage together with her, which followers now consider was a reference to her unborn baby.
In Could 2022, Rihanna welcomed her first baby, a son, together with her companion, rapper ASAP Rocky. Talking throughout a press convention Thursday, the singer, whose full identify is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, admitted that she was hesitant when the NFL initially approached her — when she was simply three months postpartum — about performing on the 2023 Tremendous Bowl. However she then revealed that motherhood had bolstered her confidence, saying, “Whenever you develop into a mother, there’s one thing that simply occurs the place you’re feeling like you may tackle the world. You are able to do something, and the Tremendous Bowl is likely one of the largest levels on the planet. So, as scary as that was… there’s one thing exhilarating in regards to the problem of all of it, and it is essential for me to do that this 12 months. It’s essential for illustration. It is essential for my son to see that.”
Nonetheless, the multi-hyphenate entertainer additionally confessed that discovering work-life steadiness had been difficult after giving start. “The steadiness is sort of not possible, as a result of regardless of the way you take a look at it, work is all the time one thing that’s going to rob you of time together with your baby,” she defined. “That is the foreign money now, and that’s the place it goes. The magnitude of how a lot it weighs. Whenever you make choices on what you are going to say sure to, it needs to be value it.”
Rihanna has not launched a full album since 2016’s critically acclaimed Anti, though she did seem on two tracks on final 12 months’s Black Panther: Wakanda Without end soundtrack and is reportedly engaged on her ninth studio album whereas nonetheless attempting to keep up work-life steadiness. She actually had sufficient traditional materials from her illustrious 18-year profession to create a hits-packed Tremendous Bowl setlist; in truth, she went by 39 completely different variations of that setlist earlier than selecting the greatest-hits revue detailed beneath:
“Bitch Higher Have My Cash”
“The place Have You Been?”
“Solely Woman within the World”
“We Discovered Love”
“Impolite Boy”
“Work”
“Wild Ideas”
“Pour It Up”
“The entire Lights”
“Run This City”
“Umbrella”
“Diamonds”
Tremendous Bowl LVII, with the Philadelphia Eagles going through off towards the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs, happened Feb. 12, 2023, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. Different musical performers through the pregame present included nation celebrity Chris Stapleton, 12-time Grammy-winner Babyface, and Emmy-winning actress/singer Sheryl Lee Ralph.
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