There was a long-awaited Rihanna live performance Sunday evening (and a few soccer).
The singer took the stage on the 2023 Tremendous Bowl in Arizona for her first stay efficiency in 5 years, belting out a powerhouse medley of a few of her biggest hits from a shocking association of floating phases above the sphere. She carried out the hits with none visitor appearances ― which had been the topic of a lot hypothesis ― alongside an infinite crew of backup dancers clad in white puffer tracksuits.
Suspended within the air, Rihanna began out the set with “Bitch Higher Have My Cash,” and floated between floor and sky for renditions of “The place Have You Been,” “Solely Lady within the World,” “We Discovered Love,” “Impolite Boy,” “Work,” “Wild Ideas,” “Pour it Up,” “All the Lights,” “Run This City” and “Umbrella,” ending with “Diamonds.”
The Grammy winner set social media afire in September when she introduced that she’d be headlining the 2023 Tremendous Bowl halftime present, breaking what felt to followers like an interminable hiatus from music. Weeks later, she dropped her first solo launch in six years, “Raise Me Up,” because the lead single for the soundtrack of “Black Panther: Wakanda Perpetually.” The monitor has since earned the singer-songwriter her first Oscar nomination.
Sunday’s efficiency marked her first time on the stage for the reason that 2018 Grammys, when she belted out her DJ Khaled collaboration “Wild Ideas.” Followers have been champing on the bit for brand spanking new music since her eighth studio album “Anti” in 2016.
It’s not like she hasn’t been busy within the interim, although. Since 2017, the 34-year-old has launched her wildly profitable Fenty Magnificence empire, launched her lingerie model Savage X Fenty and starred within the 2018 film “Ocean’s 8,” to call just a few initiatives. In July, Forbes named her the youngest self-made feminine billionaire within the nation, with an estimated web price of $1.4 billion.
To high all that off, she additionally turned a mother, welcoming a child boy along with her accomplice, rapper A$AP Rocky, in Might final yr.
In a media preview Thursday, Rihanna mentioned she was initially uncertain about taking over the halftime present, and making such a significant choice whereas she was three months postpartum.
“However if you change into a mother, there’s one thing that simply occurs the place you are feeling like you possibly can tackle the world, you are able to do something,” she mentioned. “The Tremendous Bowl is among the largest phases of the world. As scary as that was, as a result of I hadn’t been on stage in seven years, there’s one thing exhilarating in regards to the problem of all of it.”
The 2023 present follows final yr’s groundbreaking hip-hop extravaganza with rap legends Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and Mary J. Blige. The Weeknd gave a memorable (and meme-able) efficiency in 2021 and pop icons Shakira and Jennifer Lopez fired up the stage with an electrifying set in 2020.