Touchdown! Rihanna Scores Super Bowl Halftime Show Gig
A show to remember. Rihanna has been set as the 2023 halftime show headliner for Super Bowl LVII.
Stars at the Super Bowl Through the Years
The performer, 34, announced the news on Sunday, September 25, with a simple photo via Instagram that showed what appeared to be her tattooed hand holding up an NFL-branded football.
The official NFL Instagram account confirmed the news by posting the same photo with an excited caption: “Let’s GO – @badgalriri @rocnation #SBLVII @applemusic @nflonfox.”
The Instagram account for Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live succinctly summed up most of the immediate reactions: “omggggg the fenty bowl is coming.”
Super Bowl LVII is set for February 12, 2023, in Glendale, Arizona, at State Farm Stadium.
Super Bowl Halftime Performers Through the Years
The news comes just after rumors that Taylor Swift would soon be announced as the halftime show performer. Speculation that the “Blank Space” singer, 32, might perform at TV’s most-watched night of the year began when it was announced Apple Music would be featured as the NFL concert’s sponsor. The tech company has taken the role held by Pepsi since 2013, the same year that Swift launched her partnership with Coca-Cola, and the partnership was announced at 12 a.m. ET. Swift is set to release her album Midnights next month, and Swifties love a good theory.
Fans can stop speculating about who will perform and instead move to imagining the show Rihanna might create. Barring any additions to her schedule before then, the Super Bowl 2023 show will be her first major performance since giving birth to her son in May. She shares the baby boy, whose name has not yet been announced, with ASAP Rocky.
The 2022 halftime show performers included Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent. The Weeknd, Coldplay, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé have been among the headliners in recent years.
Rihanna’s label and management company, Roc Nation, is working with the NFL and Apple on the program. Per the NFL’s official press release on Sunday, Roc Nation is serving as an executive producer of the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show as well as the “strategic entertainment advisor of the live performance.”
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Jay-Z, Roc Nation’s founder, sang the “Work” singer’s praises amid the announcement. “Rihanna is a generational talent, a woman of humble beginnings who has surpassed expectations at every turn,” he said in a statement. “A person born on the small island of Barbados who became one of the most prominent artists ever. Self-made in business and entertainment.”
