An attitude of gratitude in the face of extreme pressure from the millions of fans and music lovers, were eagerly anticipating the performance of Barbadian singer, actress and businesswoman, Rihanna at the Super Bowl half-time show as well as her return to the music business in general.

For weeks, music fans were left wondering whether or not the billionaire pop star would indeed show up at one of the biggest and most prestigious gigs in music but in the end, Rihanna did. yea! She left a performance for the ages, at the 57th Super Bowl Half-time Show. 

Joy Entertainment’s Amelley present the fine details in tis article.

After turning down the chance to headline the Super Bowl halftime show in 2019, in support of former quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who was ousted from the NFL, Rihanna took the stage as the Apple Music halftime act for the 57th Super Bowl. The billionaire pop star cited motherhood and cultural representation as her inspiration.

The singer who has not toured or released an album since 2016's Anti, performed during the match break between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, February 12. Instead, Rihanna focused on her fashion and beauty brand, Fenty and also welcomed her first child last year. However, she did record a new song 3 months ago, for Marvel's Wakanda Forever. Lift Me Up, which features on the soundtrack to the Black Panther sequel, had fans hoping that the 34-year-old's Super Bowl performance could signal a bigger musical comeback later this year.

The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) in America, to determine the league champion. The game usually lasts about three-and-a-half hours, with a 30-minute break in the middle, which is where an A-list pop star is hired to keep the crowds entertained. Rihanna wasn't the only star involved in the Super Bowl proceedings. Sign Language interpreter, Justina Myles warmed her way into the hearts of many, with her interpretation of Rihanna’s performance. Babyface performed America the Beautiful, Sheryl Lee Ralph serenaded the crowd with "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and Chris Stapleton brought tears to the eyes of many, as he delivered a heartfelt and breathtaking rendition of the US national anthem.

The Super Bowl is about much more than just the action on the field or the halftime show, the multi-million dollar commercials, the party snacks, the prop bets and everything else makes the Superbowl an annual cultural benchmark. After Pepsi’s deal with the Super Bowl as headline sponsor of the halftime show ended last year, Apple Music came on board and is paying the NFL $250 million over 5 years to sponsor the Super Bowl halftime show. Here's how the financials work yearly: the NFL signs a $50M sponsorship deal and the selected artiste gets a $10M to $15M production budget. This budget covers 2,000 to 3,000 part-time workers, including set design, security, dancers, and marketing. The artistes are however not paid any performance fee. The Super Bowl is watched by 200 million people globally. So while brands spend $7 million for 30-second commercials during this year’s game, Rihanna will receive a 15-minute commercial for free. That is much more valuable than her performance fee. And the data backs it up. Just like the Super Bowl commercials, halftime shows don’t come cheap—productions can cost more than $10 million dollars. The game reached a total of 124 million live viewers, according to ad tracking service AdImpact. Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show drew 124 million viewers while the other portions of the final game had about 119 million eye balls glued to their sets.

Executive producer of the Halftime Show, Jesse Collins in an interview with E!, explained how they managed to pull of another successful show.

Rolling stones adjudged Rihanna’s halftime performance as the 8th best of all halftime shows so far. The Fenty billionaire rocked all the way solo without any guest appearances on her set, looking untouchably cool on her flying stage. Despite been afraid of heights, Rihanna gracefully floated 60-feet off the ground, high up above the heads of the mammoth crowd gathered at the State Farm Stadium in Arizona. She sneered though one banger after another, proudly flaunting her baby bump as a side attraction with a squad of white-hooded dancers. She served notice right off with “B. Better Have My Money,” performed “Rude Boy” over her shoulder with a few obscene scenes and topped it off with “Diamonds” under the fireworks among other songs from her catalogue. Aside that pregnancy reveal, the biggest business statement she made was when she paused to fix her makeup, in a mini-ad for her own Fenty Beauty line. Searches for Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty soared by 833% in the aftermath of her performance. Talk about a boss move. That’s not all… Rihanna's Super Bowl performance placed her at the number 1 spot for most-streamed artist globally, 17 songs from her catalogue dominated Spotify’s Top 40 list and she gained 3 million new Instagram followers. The Super Bowl effect was real.

The announcement of Rihanna’s second pregnancy came as a shocker to many. Most of Riri’s fans were left sulking over the fact that their hopes of enjoying new music or seeing the pop-star on tour later this year as rumoured earlier, had been dashed. Fans may have to manage their expectations from their idol, as no definite timelines were given pertaining to the release of new music by Rihanna.

Sources close to the diva however hinted of wedding plans between the multiple award winning singer and her beau, ASAP Rocky, with talks and preparations going on since November 2022. Insider sources also shared that Rihanna hopes to give birth to a girl this time around, while aiming to be a mum to four kids by the time she’s 40.