Why Rihanna Was Initially Not Sure About Performing at the Super Bowl
On Feb. 12, Super Bowl 57 will be played between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. Rihanna will headline the Super Bowl halftime show. During a recent press conference for the halftime show, Rihanna admitted that she was not sure headlining the halftime show was a good idea.
Rihanna felt hesitant about headlining the Super Bowl halftime show
On Feb. 9, an Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show press conference was held. During the press conference, Rihanna discussed her thoughts on headlining the halftime show.
Rihanna gave birth to her first child in May 2022. The singer admitted during the press conference that this made her question her judgment on if headlining the halftime show in 2023 was a good idea.
“‘I’m three months postpartum, like, should I be making major decisions like this now?’ Like, ‘I might regret this,’” Rihanna said according to Essence.
However, being “a mom” is also what encouraged Rihanna to take the job.
“But when you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world, you could do anything,” the singer said.
Rihanna thinks the Super Bowl halftime show is a ‘physical challenge’
Over the past few years, Rihanna prioritized her role as a businesswoman over performing. Because of this, Rihanna’s focus was on growing Fenty Beauty and Fenty, and she did not release new music or perform.
At the press conference, Rihanna admitted that her long break from performing makes putting on a halftime show a “physical challenge.
“The physical challenge has definitely been immense, for many reasons, of course,” the singer said according to Essence. “But, I haven’t done this in a minute.”
She continued, “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.”
The singer is ‘open’ to releasing new music
Rihanna’s most recent album Anti was released in 2016. After years of not releasing new music, Rihanna released the songs “Lift Me Up” and “Born Again” in November 2022 as part of the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Music from and Inspired By soundtrack.
While there is no confirmation Rihanna will release a studio album anytime soon, the singer revealed during the press conference that she is “open” to different musical directions.
“Musically, I’m feeling open. I’m feeling open to exploring, discovering, creating, things that are new, things that are different, things that are off, weird, might not ever make sense to my fans, you know, the people that know the music that I put out,” she said according to Essence.
The singer added, “I just want to play. I want to have fun. I want to have fun with music.”
Fans can see Rihanna perform her highly-anticipated set during the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 12.
