Rihanna soars in Super Bowl halftime show while pregnant
Feb 12, 2023, 6:58 PM | Updated: Feb 13, 2023, 7:56 am
Rihanna performs onstage during the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show at State Farm Stadium on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
Rihanna was above it all.
She began and ended the Super Bowl 57 halftime show hovering high above the field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale.
The performance delivered on fan expectations but it included a major surprise — the singer is pregnant with her second child. The singer’s representative confirmed the pregnancy shortly after she ended her 13-minute set.
She wore a puffy, bright red jumpsuit with tight, rubbery garb underneath as she stood on a transparent rectangular platform that raised and lowered as she belted out the lyrics to “B**** Better Have My Money” over the turf where the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs were battling moments earlier.
Dancers wearing white ski-style suits and shaded goggles had their own suspended platforms that moved in concert with hers.
She and the dancers were lowered to a long stage that matched her outfit as she sped through hits including “Work,” “Where Have You Been,” and “Only Girl,” belting out “Want you to make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world.”
Unreal. @Rihanna #AppleMusicHalftime pic.twitter.com/ffPJk08ygg
— NFL (@NFL) February 13, 2023
There were none of the instant costume changes, scene shifts or guest appearances that have been a constant at other Super Bowl halftimes.
The theme — and the color scheme — stayed the same throughout her set, with red lights bathing the long stage.
More of the dancers in white flooded and filled the field as the performance went on.
Fireworks went off and lights sparkled from the stand as she was raised alone back into the air and sang “Diamond” — with its refrain of “shine bright like a diamond” — as the set closed.
The performance was her first live event in seven years, and her first since becoming a mother.
The 34-year-old has a 9-month-old son with rapper A$AP Rocky.
A nine-time Grammy Award-winner, Rihanna has 14 No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits, including “We Found Love,” “Work,” “Umbrella” and “Disturbia.”
SETTING UP
Setting the stage 🎤#SBLVII pic.twitter.com/V0vOTWz8Vx
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) February 13, 2023
