Super Bowl Halftime Show 2023: Rihanna Announces 2nd Pregnancy & Sings Her Biggest Hits
After months of anticipation, Rihanna finally took the stage for the Super Bowl Halftime Show on Feb. 12 — and she dropped a huge surprise by debuting a baby bump on the field!
Rihanna’s music career has been on the back burner for the last few years, but she proved that she’s definitely still got it with her Super Bowl Halftime Show! The singer performed at the 2023 Super Bowl in Arizona with thousands in the stands and millions more watching on television. She took the field for 13 straight minutes of non-stop performing, singing all of her biggest hits throughout the medley. The biggest moment of all, though, was when fans realized that RiRi was sporting a baby bump during her performance! A rep for the singer confirmed that she is, indeed, expecting her second child just nine months after giving birth.
Rihanna’s Super Bowl Setlist
To kick things off, Rihanna opened up her set with “B**** Better Have My Money.” She started above the field on a floating platform, wearing an all red outfit and her hair in a ponytail. There were platforms surrounding her with dancers in white outfits, breaking out moves to the song, as well as several also dancing on a red platform on the field.
SHE’S BAAAACK 👑 @Rihanna #AppleMusicHalftime pic.twitter.com/rH2G9r2RSc
— NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2023
The set then continued with “Where Have You Been,” as Rihanna’s platform lowered to the middle of the field. Then it quickly transitioned into “Only Girl” as the platform swayed from side to side, before going into “We Found Love.” The show then went into “Rude Boy,” which featured dancers surrounding Rihanna at the middle of the field. Next, Rihanna transitioned into singing “Work,” and then “Wild Thoughts and “Pour It Up.” Before going into “All Of The Lights,” RiRi made sure to reapply her Fenty Beauty makeup, of course! Then, she broke out into one of her all time classics, “Run This Town,” followed by “Umbrella” and then “Diamonds,” as she was lifted back up on the platform.
What Else Is Rihanna Doing Now?
The Super Bowl was Rihanna’s first live performance since 2018 when she performed at the Grammy Awards. In the years since, she’s been building her fashion (Savage x Fenty) and beauty (Fenty Beauty) brands. She’s also settling into her role as a mother, having welcomed her first child, a son, with A$AP Rocky in 2022. RiRi gave birth in May, and less than one year later, she returned to the biggest stage in the world for a performance that took months to perfect.
this shot during Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance is so wild holy crap pic.twitter.com/jE8UWAnxjA
— Spencer Althouse (@SpencerAlthouse) February 13, 2023
Fans have been waiting for Rihanna to perform the Halftime Show for years. She actually turned down the opportunity in 2019 to stand in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick amidst his decision to kneel for the National Anthem during NFL games. “I just couldn’t be a sellout,” she previously told Vogue. “I couldn’t be an enabler. There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.”
However, since then, JAY-Z’s Roc Nation has taken over as producer of the Halftime Show. Rihanna has been signed to Roc Nation since 2005. She has not publicly commented on her feelings about the NFL these days, but was clearly satisfied enough to want to perform. And for fans…it was worth the wait!