Fans have been waiting six long years for Rihanna—the woman, the myth, and, of course, the legend— to return to the music industry, and now she’ll be back with a performance that could shake a football field. In February, the biggest sporting event of the year is coming to Phoenix, Arizona: the NFL Super Bowl LVII. There will be tailgating, food, face paint, some dudes running around with a football, and of course, the real reason anyone will be tuning in: a half-time performance by Rihanna.
For years, fans have been looking out for a concert or even an album from this 41-time music award winner. One of her most famous achievements is receiving the Favorite Female Artist Award in 2008, 2010, 2015, 2016, and 2018 from the American Music Awards. She has also received the Best Collaboration Award in 2016 for “Work” Feat. Drake, which also got 1.4 billion streams in the U.S alone. Rihanna has raked in 9 Grammy Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, 13 American Music Awards, and 7 MTV Music Awards, receiving 68 nominations overall from all major league music awards.
She started her career in 2005 with her first platinum single “Pon de Replay”, selling 1 million copies in America and 4 million worldwide. It only goes up from there. She has written, produced, and recorded most of her pieces and her hard work has certainly paid off.
The latest album she released was way back in 2016, “Anti”, which, as reported by Chart Data, made Rihanna the first female Black artist to have their album chart for 200 weeks on the Billboard 200!
.@rihanna‘s ‘ANTI’ has now spent 200 weeks on the Billboard 200.
It’s the first album by a black female artist to reach this milestone in the chart’s history.
— chart data (@chartdata) December 2, 2019
She has not been completely out of the spotlight since then, having dropped the song “Lift Me Up” for Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Released in November of 2022, the single made number 2 on the Billboard charts and has 40 million streams since its release. It was also been nominated for Best Original Song at the 2023 Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes, and The Oscars.
Her Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show Trailer is titled Rihanna is Back. Garnering 5.2 million views on YouTube in just over a week of its release, the 30-second trailer had millions glued to the screen. It only takes a moment for us to see her strobe-lit, Tyra-Banks-style strut as we hear background voices, and then witness her outfit which causes us to take a second look. But that wasn’t enough til she stitched in one of her most popular songs “Needed Me.” And if you know the song, then you know what she is bringing to the table.
You’d think she’d already grabbed everyone’s attention by the throat to await an amazing performance, then she goes and drops some new merch. Savage X Fenty by Rihanna, released in 2018, Rihanna’s fashion line, began with lingerie and sleepwear, but now incorporates her new Superbowl game day collection. If you ever wonder what you could wear if you scored some tickets or will be, like me, watching it from your living room, then I would recommend buying:
Limited Edition LVII Hoodie, $112.95
Limited Edition LVII Surprise Tee, $59.95
And of course we can’t forget an accessory or two, like the Limited Edition LVII Beanie, $32.95
As I hold my breath, filled with excitement, so will others until we all get to see the biggest comeback of all time. Tune in on February 12th on Fox, starting at 6:30 pm.
Top image Courtesy Apple Music
