All of the Songs Rihanna Performed During Her Super Bowl Halftime Performance
On Feb. 12, Rihanna headlined the Super Bowl halftime show for Super Bowl 57. During the halftime show performance, Rihanna revealed that she is pregnant with her second child. The singer’s set did not feature any other artists and was a medley of some of her most popular hits. Here are the songs Rihanna sang during her Super Bowl halftime show.
Rihanna performed a medley of songs during the Super Bowl halftime show
The Super Bowl halftime show opened with Rihanna on an elevated platform wearing a red jumpsuit that was unzipped to reveal her pregnancy. Throughout the performance, Rihanna was surrounded by backup dancers wearing white outfits.
After performing the first few songs on the elevated platform, Rihanna was lowered to the main stage where she performed choreography with the dancers and sang a few more songs.
At the end of the set, Rihanna performed “Run This Town” and “Umbrella” in ballad form. She then returned to the elevated platform and closed the show with “Diamonds.”
Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime setlist.
- “B**** Better Have My Money”
- “Where Have You Been?”
- “Only Girl in the World”
- “We Found Love”
- “Rude Boy”
- “Work”
- “Wild Thoughts”
- “Pour It Up”
- “All of the Lights”
- “Run This Town”
- “Umbrella”
- “Diamonds”
A look at the songs Rihanna chose to perform
Even though Rihanna has not released a new album in years, picking songs to make up the setlist for the halftime show was no easy feat. The singer has 14 No. 1 hit songs and even more songs that made it into the top 10 spots on music charts.
With this many popular songs, some fan favorites like “Pon de Replay,” “Please Don’t Stop the Music,” and “Disturbia” did not make it onto the setlist.
Because Rihanna had not performed for years, opening with “B**** Better Have My Money” made sense creatively.
In the song, Rihanna sings, “Pay me what you owe me, don’t act like you forgot/ B**** better have my money,” reminding everyone of her worth after years away from the stage.
After the concert’s opener, Rihanna performed multiple top-charting hits from throughout her discography that all had similar upbeat vibes, making the transitions in the medley seamless.
The singer then used “Run This Down,” a Jay-Z song that features Rihanna and Kanye West, to slow things down. Still, “Run This Down” is frequently used as a warm-up song at sporting events, so performing it at the Super Bowl was a must.
“Umbrella” is one of Rihanna’s biggest hits and also one of her earliest hits, as it was released in 2007. Finally, “Diamonds” is a song that shows off Rihanna’s vocals and it leaves an impactful impression.
The singer fit 12 songs into a short set
Leading into the Super Bowl halftime show, Rihanna admitted during a press conference about the performance that picking songs for the concert was a challenge.
“First thing’s first, so you’re just running around for 13 minutes, trying to put a two hour set in 13 minutes, and you’re gonna see on Sunday, it just, from the time it starts, it just never ends until it’s like the very last second,” she said during the press conference according to Essence.
Based on how well the Super Bowl halftime show was received, it is clear Rihanna made the right choices.
