Seven years after her most recent album, Rihanna broke her performing hiatus at the 2023 Super Bowl. Here are my top five favorite moments from her Super Bowl halftime performance!
- The Set List
Rihanna performed a jaw-dropping set that featured everything from vibrant dance breaks to floating stages to impressive vocals.
Her opening song “B*tch Better Have My Money” was sung from a floating stage. The star then seamlessly transitioned into her 2011 Grammy-nominated hit “Where Have You Been”, adding new details into the epic bass drop, including an interpolation of “Cockiness (Love It) [Remix].”
Rihanna kept the party going by storming into the chorus of one of her Grammy-winning singles, “Only Girl (In the World).” She ended the dance segment with “We Found Love,” which still remains her longest-running Billboard No. 1 to date, incorporating the iconic hook from her 2010 hit “S&M.”
Rihanna added more bounce to “Rude Boy,” giving it a danceable remix that included a sample of her 2016 Anti hit “Kiss It Better.” She then seamlessly transitioned into her Anti hit “Work” which was followed by “Wild Thoughts”. “Pour It Up” also featured incredible camerawork and came after a quick break for Rihanna to walk across the stage and soak in the applause.
Rihanna later proved that she did not need Kanye West to perform the anthemic chorus of his 2010 hit “All Of The Lights”. However, right before this performance, she and her dancers launched into an energetic dance break soundtracked by her 2016 Anti deep cut “Pose.” Rihanna then strutted center stage to perform “Run This Town”. The star was then lifted back onto the floating stage while performing “Umbrella”. Rihanna ended her incredible performance with “Diamonds” which truly made me shed a tear.
- Fenty Beauty Plug
Rihanna showed us how much of a marketing queen she truly is when she took a quick pause on stage to touch up her makeup with her famous brand, Fenty Beauty. Though she may not have gotten paid to perform at the Super Bowl, it’s safe to assume that Fenty Beauty made a lot of money following her product plug that appeared on the big screen.
- RiRi’s Dancers Doing A Tik Tok Dance Trend
One of Rihanna’s dancers seemed to take the opportunity to change the assigned choreography and perform the trending TikTok“Her Way (Sped Up)” dance on the floating stage. Brave! Whether this move was freestyled or choreographed, it was definitely an iconic addition.
- The ASL performer
The dancers were incredible. The set was incredible. Riri was beyond incredible. However, someone who truly went above and beyond was the ASL interpreter for the performance. Justina Miles became the first deaf woman to perform American Sign Language at the Super Bowl pregame and halftime shows. SLAY! Her performance was very entertaining and filled with so much spark and energy.
- Special Guest: Pregnancy Announcement
The one question we all had while watching the halftime show this year was “is Rihanna pregnant?” RiRi subtly announced she was expecting while rubbing her stomach during her closing song “Diamonds”. She performed all her songs solo with no surprise guests, but I would like to argue that performing pregnant and singing with your soon-to-be newborn is the best special guest idea ever thought of.
Rihanna carried the show solo and was pregnant! It is safe to say she gave an amazing performance that will go down in history.