Nine time Grammy Award winner Rihanna is scheduled to perform at the halftime show during the Super Bowl on February 12 between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.
Rihanna promises a “jam-packed” show but notes that picking the setlist is the most difficult part. Artists performing at the Super Bowl halftime only get 13 minutes to perform their shows. Rihanna said, “it’s going to be a celebration of my catalog in the best way that we could have put it together.” She has 14 number one Billboard hits and 13 minutes to get as many of them in as she can…along with any other songs she wants to put into the show.
This will be her first live event in seven years for the new mother. The star admits that she was unsure of agreeing to perform at one of the biggest performances in any career just three months after giving birth. “But when you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you can take on the world, you can do anything,” she said. “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages of the world. As scary as that was, because I hadn’t been on stage in seven years, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all.”
Rihanna notes, “at the end of the day, if it flops or it flies, my name has to stand by that. And so I really get involved with every aspect of anything I do.”
Rihanna follows a Hip-Hop performance last year that included Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige, and Kendrick Lamar. Previous Super Bowl performances include Beyonce, Madonna, Coldplay, Katy Perry, U2, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, and The Weeknd.
Country music star Chris Stapleton is scheduled to sing the National Anthem with R&B artist Babyface will perform “America the Beautiful” as a part of the pre-game ceremonies. Sheryl Lee Ralph is set to perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing”.
The pre-game performances will be signed with American Sign Language by Academy Award winner Troy Kotsur, Colin Denny, and Justina Miles.
Feature photo credit: Rihanna, LOUD Tour, Belfast cropped.jpg