Rihanna's Super Bowl Halftime Show Lived Up To the Hype
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The time has finally come, people. It’s what you’ve been waiting for all year. The event that's so highly anticipated that an estimated 192 million (!) people watch it. That’s right: Rihanna’s return. (Otherwise known as Super Bowl LVI. Whatever floats your boat.)
This evening, following some very questionable commercials, Queen Rih stepped on stage for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. The singer transformed State Farm Stadium into her own concert venue, fit with floating stages that were suspended high above the field. The artist, as if you had any doubt, put on an excellent show, with a mashup of songs from her expansive catalog. From “B*tch Better Have My Money” to “Pour it Up,” Rihanna delivered her signature tracks, amping up the crowd during her roughly 15-minute-long set. Speaking of: who do I have to contact about the Halftime Show’s runtime? If the performance was five longer, maybe we could've seen Rihanna perform “Needed Me.”
Tonight marked Rihanna's first live performance in seven years. Though she was reportedly offered the gig during the aftermath of 2016's National Anthem protests, but declined in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. “I couldn’t dare do that," Rihanna told Vogue in 2019. "For what? Who gains from that? Not my people. I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. 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.” Who’s to say what changed her mind, but the singer gave the show her all—performing her greatest hits with clear vocals and impressive endurance. We even had an extra surprise: Rihanna is pregnant with her second child, which a representative for the singer confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Rihanna’s performance came at the perfect time as tensions rose for the Kansas City Chiefs, with Patrick Mahomes limping off the field with an injured ankle right before halftime. Not to mention, other players began changing their cleats thanks to a particularly slippery field. Needless to say, everyone needed a breather. What better way to decompress than by dancing to Rihanna’s greatest hits while she flew around the field? Judging by the early reactions on social media, Rihanna's set easily lands among the better Halftime Show performances in recent memory. Here's what viewers at home had to say about Rihanna's unforgettable return.
rihanna opening the show with ‘bitch better have my money’ 🔥 #superbowl pic.twitter.com/xsvtNVxIRq
— 2000s (@PopCulture2000s) February 13, 2023
60k fans waiting to watch Rihanna pretending they came to watch the eagles and chiefs #SuperBowl
pic.twitter.com/td3F040WgJ— Dec (@DecMassey_) February 12, 2023
Watching Rihanna perform Umbrella pic.twitter.com/mmJdIdCvb1
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) February 13, 2023
Me and my friends running to get tickets to Rihanna if she announces a tour pic.twitter.com/oPUK0fjhiY
— jordan ♡︎☀︎︎♥︎ (@jojodances913) February 13, 2023
rihanna closing her superbowl performance with diamonds is one for the history books pic.twitter.com/d8XPYdhFg9
— ツ (@MARSTVZ) February 13, 2023
Can we just take a moment and appreciate the dancers of @rihanna ? This was one of the baddest and lit dancers in NFL halftime show. Choreography at its finest 👌🏻 pic.twitter.com/cZFhNTitph
— Macoy (@thesupermartian) February 13, 2023
A$AP Rocky watching Rihanna perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show ❤️ pic.twitter.com/6YuqmHLSDE
— SAINT (@saint) February 13, 2023
rihanna and gaga said we don’t even need to be on the ground to slay pic.twitter.com/U2SO8jQX11
— asif 〄 (@chromaticgaga) February 13, 2023
Rihanna ate this diamonds performance up pic.twitter.com/jsHymEJTMW
— tired of waiting for R9 (@RIHANNARAGE) February 13, 2023
I support big bellies either way
— josh (@Roseandblog) February 13, 2023
If @rihanna ever agrees to be on GMM I will move mountains to have a floating platform for her
— Rhett McLaughlin | MUSIC: James and the Shame (@rhettmc) February 13, 2023
Everyone leaving after Rihanna’s Concert pic.twitter.com/uLTA8LXhnR
— 🖤 (@melochegirdies) February 13, 2023
Best performance ever #Rihanna #superbowl #SuperBowl2023 #SuperBowlHalftimeShow pic.twitter.com/OIP9lg3Xcz
— Goku_ (@ssb_Goku_) February 13, 2023
Rhi Rhi you were fantastic! I would’ve loved seeing some guests there tho maybe #BadBunny ? I wanna see that collab so bad! #SuperBowl2023 #Rihanna pic.twitter.com/ioqlA3D3XL
— Mar Telena (@mar_telena) February 13, 2023
So @Nintendo when are we getting @rihanna as playable DLC for #SuperSmashBrosUltimate ? pic.twitter.com/xeOshTxGka
— eGO_Maserati #74 (@eGO_Maserati) February 13, 2023
Rihanna is really a certified hitmaker.. Legend 🐐🔥
pic.twitter.com/ytcQzsG0xh— Rap Marathon (@RapMarathon_) February 13, 2023
this is more than enough to get me through the rest of the year pic.twitter.com/plaLvwRmfd
— J(enna) Wortham (@jennydeluxe) February 13, 2023
60k fans waiting to watch Rihanna pretending they came to watch the eagles and chiefs #SuperBowl
pic.twitter.com/td3F040WgJ— Dec (@DecMassey_) February 12, 2023
My reaction when Rihanna first song is Bitch Better have my money after 6 years pic.twitter.com/l6txyJgNNO
— Jobless Yb Fan (@ShisuiTheDonn__) February 13, 2023
Rihanna took time to promote Fenty Beauty during her #SuperBowl halftime show. pic.twitter.com/kd3VAXxT5N
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) February 13, 2023
rihanna #superbowl performance’s THE shot pic.twitter.com/1r1aYuHVRS
— allure #Fentybowl (@allurequinn) February 13, 2023
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