The Superbowl LVII halftime show — sponsored by Apple Music for the first year ever — saw the return of Rihanna, and her return was nothing short of a spectacle.
Rihanna, who hasn’t performed in a number of years, absolutely killed it and there was no rust in her performance. She commanded the stage with every move she made. She ran through her hits like “Umbrella,” “Diamonds” and “Rude Boy” complete with an army of dancers and her backing band (featuring Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt) at her side.
There were times where you could tell (like at every halftime show) where the vocals were sweetened, but there were times when Rihanna completely flew without a harness and let her vocals soar — in particular on “Diamonds.”
Edit: It was announced that Rihanna is pregnant. So that only makes her performance that much better.
In a wild bit of history, Rihanna was one of the first Super Bowl halftime performers not to have a guest come on stage. It was an entire Rihanna mini-concert and it was more effective than having multiple guests come on. This was a performance to remind everyone Rihanna is back and she is one of the top performers in the world.
As to why she was chosen for the show, Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Apple Music and Beats said “Rihanna is one of the most prolific artists of our time, and we, along with her many fans across the globe, cannot wait to see her take the stage at the first Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show,” said Schusser. “We are excited to celebrate Rihanna, and give her fans a new way to experience her music with Spatial Audio, as well as exclusive content from Apple Music.”
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