Rihanna returned to the stage on Sunday night for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, but contrary to expectations, she didn’t perform any new music. Instead, she made an announcement that overshadowed the show itself: she is pregnant again. This news came as a surprise to many, especially since Rihanna has been quite private about her personal life in recent years.
It was also surprising to see Rihanna performing at the Super Bowl, given her previous stance on the NFL. In a 2019 interview with Vogue, she had stated that she would never agree to work with the NFL due to its treatment of Colin Kaepernick and other players who took a knee during the national anthem. However, her management company Roc Nation has been producing halftime shows for years, and it’s likely that this played a role in her decision to perform.
Despite not having any new music to promote, Rihanna’s performance was still a spectacle to behold. She has already achieved enormous success in her career, with one of the most diamond-plated discographies of this century and more money than she could ever spend. As such, her return to the stage seemed to be more about the challenge and the spectacle of performing at such a massive event.
In a press scrum a few months ago, Rihanna had said, “It was a challenge that I welcomed. It was a stage bigger than anything I’ve ever done. If I’m going to leave my baby, I’m going to leave my baby for something special. I was willing to do it. It was now or never for me.” This statement suggests that Rihanna was motivated by the sheer scale of the performance, and by the desire to do something special and memorable.
Overall, Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime Show was a visit from above, an otherworldly performance that was not about selling anything, but about the challenge and the spectacle. And with news of her pregnancy, it seems that Rihanna is in a different place in her life now, one where she is content to take her time and enjoy the present moment. There may be no new album or tour on the horizon, but there will always be the memory of her transcendent Super Bowl performance.
