Let’s make this very clear: The nation is gathering on Sunday to watch a Rihanna concert, around which a game of football will incidentally take place. Apologies to Patrick Mahomes, but the nine-time Grammy winner with 31 top-10 singles returning to the stage for the first time since 2018 is the biggest event of the week. I say this because, after a couple of days on the ground in Arizona, I’m not sure the football world fully recognizes the magnitude of this moment. So, with a personal mission to educate those football fans who might not yet understand the significance of what will take place at the halftime of Super Bowl LVII, I present this, the Super Bowl Viewer’s Guide to the Rihanna Halftime Show:
Why is this a big deal?
First things first, because it’s Rihanna. Taylor Swift is the most successful artist of the 21st century, but Rihanna is the most successful singles artist of this century, and by singles, I mean hits. She has had 14 no. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, the fourth most of all time, trailing only the Beatles, Mariah Carey, and Elvis Presley. She’s made a massive impact on the music industry already, especially in the way she was early to embrace EDM; her 2007 single “Don’t Stop the Music” was one of the first major pop singles to have done so.
Second, this is a big deal because Rihanna is back, and if you’re tired of seeing the Apple Music halftime show commercial state this with no further explanation, here’s what that means: Not only has she not performed live since 2018, but Rihanna also hasn’t released a new album since 2016’s Anti, the industrial dancehall masterpiece that’s her best record from top to bottom. In the years since, she’s built a billion-dollar consumer empire selling cosmetics and lingerie, and she started a family, having welcomed a baby boy last May with boyfriend A$AP Rocky. It’s easy to forget that Rihanna used to be one of pop music’s most prolific artists, releasing a new full-length record roughly once a year for her first seven album cycles, until taking four years off to create Anti. That leaves us with one of the most important modern musicians truly stepping back into the spotlight for the first time since the Obama administration.
Whether that means new music is coming remains to be seen. Rihanna has been teasing a new album—fans refer to it as R9, since it would be her ninth—for years now, but we know she did spend time in the studio recently to record “Lift Me Up” and “Born Again” for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.
What will the set be like?
This is always an interesting question for a Super Bowl halftime performer, and especially for Rihanna. In some ways, she’s in the best position possible to headline this kind of show on such a massive stage given that her legacy is defined by her hits. The Super Bowl halftime show is essentially a massive showcase, which to some artists can read as an opportunity to draw attention to work they may feel is underappreciated, while the producers of the most-watched TV show of the year want the artist to play the songs most people would recognize.
Did I mention that Rihanna has 14 no. 1 hit songs and 31 top-10 hits to choose from? I guess it’s possible RiRi is somewhere right now putting her foot down to give “Raining Men” its due in the set list, but I doubt it. Halftime shows run around 12 to 14 minutes, and Rihanna could put together a list of just the songs that, at one point, were the most popular in the world and fill that time very easily. (Though if she wanted to put a word in for “Desperado,” a deeper cut off Anti, she’d hear no complaints here.)
“Don’t Stop the Music” is the current betting favorite to be the first song played, though I’m partial to starting with “Diamonds,” which has the fourth-best odds. It’s more mid-tempo, and if you figure that her EDM era is going to be featured heavily in the set, with songs like “Right Now,” “We Found Love,” and the aforementioned “Don’t Stop the Music,” this would give her something to build on while still being a massive opener.
Rihanna has so many options, it’s really anyone’s guess where the set list goes, but whatever the outcome is, it will at least be telling about what comes next. She may be back, but it’s not clear what that means. Is a new album actually coming soon? She has teased in the past that R9 is heavily reggae influenced, so if in this performance she leans into dancehall hits like “Work,” “Rude Boy,” and “You da One,” that could be a clue. If the set list feels purposefully career-spanning, perhaps that’s a clue that she’s ready for her greatest hits era, though something about hearing her reach back as far as 2005’s “Pon de Replay” feels unlikely.
So this will be perfect. Is there anything that could go wrong?
Wrong is a strong word, but there’s a nonzero amount of friction between the artist and the event going on here.
First of all, Rihanna told Vogue in a 2019 cover story that she turned down an offer to headline the Super Bowl that year because she wanted to show support for Colin Kaepernick, telling the magazine that she “couldn’t be a sellout.” The difference now, to paraphrase “Pour It Up,” is that she can “call Jay up and close a deal”—in this case, a halftime show. A year after Rihanna declined (and after the halftime show had one of its lowest points in memory when it booked Maroon 5 to play in hip-hop hotbed Atlanta), Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, which represents Rihanna, made a deal with the NFL to produce the halftime show. That partnership is now in its fourth year. That deal also stipulated that Roc Nation would have influence in some of the NFL’s social justice initiatives, and it has resulted in artists of color headlining the show every year it has been in place. Those changes and her relationship with Roc Nation seem to have made enough difference for Rihanna to play the show. That said, it would not be a surprise to see her make a political statement of some kind during the performance.
There will be more delicate things to figure out than politics, though. Remember when I said that in some ways, Rihanna is the best possible artist for this gig? That’s true, but there are other ways in which it’s a less obvious pairing. What I mean by that, mainly, is that Rihanna sings about sex and drugs a lot! Like, a lot. I’m not sure Roger Goodell is ready for “Chains and whips excite me,” and, if I’m being perfectly honest, I’m not sure he’s ready for “Bitch Better Have My Money” either, but I suppose we’ll see.
I don’t think she’ll have any trouble rising to the level of spectacle the halftime show craves, but it will be interesting to watch how that happens. Let’s face it; the Super Bowl is a little cheugy, and Rihanna is extremely not. She is our coolest pop star, a crown she’s worn long after her contemporaries (and fellow halftime headliners), like Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, have entered their cheug eras. She’s not going to be doing dance breaks on stage while they shoot confetti cannons. Her signature dance move is a crotch grab. There will likely be tons of dancers (doing other moves), and they and the songs will keep the energy up while Rihanna does what she does best: being an icon and not giving a fuck.
What else should we watch for?
The looks! Rihanna has taken a break from music, but it’s not like she hasn’t been busy. Other than starting a family, much of her energy over the last several years has gone into her Fenty lines of makeup and clothing, and the halftime show will certainly be a showcase for those as well. Her Savage X Fenty store is currently selling a “Rihanna concert interrupted by a football game” shirt, so you know they’re involved.
Will there be special guests?
Almost certainly, as there almost always are during the halftime show, and as Rihanna is no stranger to collaborations. The funny thing about this is, while Rihanna is the epitome of cool, some of her former musical partners aren’t exactly the current-day trendsetters they once were. I’d love to hear “This Is What You Came For” in the set, and I bet we will, but I’m not sure what a Calvin Harris appearance accomplishes in 2023, though I’m sure he’d be happy to have the work. Drake is too simp-y, though here’s hoping she does “Work” without him, and Eminem was featured in the halftime show last year, so it’s hard to see him returning. Rocky is one possibility, as is Jay-Z. The all-caps contingent, a.k.a. SZA and PARTYNEXTDOOR, would keep the vibes right, but they might not be recognizable enough stars to make sense. Does anyone know what Ne-Yo is up to?
Really, though, maybe the move is just to embrace the contrast. Heck, bring Coldplay back and lean into the magic of one of the most badass and creative stars alive who can still thrive in the mainstream. Rihanna is too cool for the Super Bowl, but she’s coming anyway, and that is awesome.
