Rihanna will headline next year’s NFL Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show, due to take place in February. It’ll be the Bajan singer’s first Super Bowl slot and first public performance since appearing at the 2018 Grammy Awards to perform ‘Wild Thoughts’ with DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller.
The news was announced this morning by Rihanna, the NFL (who have rebranded their socials as National Fenty League) and Apple Music, who have taken over from Pepsi as the official sponsors of the halftime show.
Rihanna Will Headline the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show
Let’s GO – @rihanna @rocnation #SBLVII @AppleMusic @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/xmIXK5jsRg
— NFL (@NFL) September 25, 2022
The news of Rihanna’s headline slot at next year’s Super Bowl – which will take place on 12th February in Glendale, Arizona – comes after it was reported that Taylor Swift – who had been rumoured to perform at next year’s game – turned down an invitation to perform so that she can focus on re-recording her back catalogue.
In response to a legal dispute over the master recordings of her first six albums, Swift has been re-recording those albums to regain control. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) both arrived last year, with four more albums – 2006’s Taylor Swift, 2010’s Speak Now, 2014’s 1989 and 2017’s Reputation – left to complete.
- Taylor Swift | Image: Terry Wyatt/Getty
Rihanna, meanwhile, hasn’t released an album since 2016’s acclaimed ANTI. Since then, she has sporadically hinted that new music is on the way. “You’re not gonna expect what you hear, just put that in your mind,” she said last year, speaking to a journalist on the red carpet for the Savage X Fenty Show Vol.3 special. “Whatever you know of Rihanna is not gonna be what you hear. I’m really experimenting.”
The 2022 Super Bowl Halftime Show was headlined by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar, and featured guest appearances from 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak.
Further Reading
Rihanna Donates $15m To Climate Justice Movement In US And Caribbean
Daniel Radcliffe On How Rihanna Fit Into His Journey To Becoming Weird Al Yankovic
