It’s confirmed — business mogul Rihanna will take the stage during the Super Bowl halftime show in Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 12.
Rumors were floating that the singer had been in discussions with the NFL and Roc Nation. On Saturday, she took to Twitter to post a photo of her holding an NFL-branded football, her first post since giving birth earlier in May.
“We’re excited to partner with Rihanna, Roc Nation and the NFL to bring music and sports fans a momentous show,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president for Apple Music and Beats, per The New York Times.
Meanwhile, Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter called her a “generational talent” and said that she had surpassed expectations at every turn.
“A person born on the small island of Barbados who became one of the most prominent artists ever. Self-made in business and entertainment,” he said, per Fox News.
Rihanna previously turned down Super Bowl gig
In 2019, the Fenty CEO sat down with Vogue and revealed that she turned down the halftime show in support of Colin Kaepernick.
“I couldn’t dare do that. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people. I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler,” Rihanna said. “There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.”
The 34-year-old athlete last played in 2016 for the 49ers, when he kneeled during the U.S. national anthem in protest of racial inequality and police brutality.
He struggled to sign with a team for a few years after the controversial move. In May, Kaepernick had a workout with the Las Vegas Raiders, his first with an NFL team since 2016, as Brandon Judd reported for the Deseret News.
Why is Rihanna a part of the Super Bowl Halftime show?
According to The New York Times, the NFL was in deep waters and ended up signing on Jay-Z and his entertainment and sports company Roc Nation in 2019 after players began protesting and bad publicity kept brewing.
The rapper was also on board with the league’s activism campaign Inspire Change, which focuses on “education and economic advancement, police and community relations and criminal justice reform,” the NFL’s promotional materials at the time stated.
Where does the “Umbrella” singer come in the picture? Well, Rihanna is both managed by and signed to Roc Nation.
In the past, artists like The Weeknd, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars and Prince have performed at the Super Bowl halftime show.