The cat is out of the bag: Rihanna has been named Super Bowl LVII’s halftime show performer!
The singer announced the exciting news just before 3 p.m. on Sunday (Sept. 25). The good news came hours after TMZ reported she was in talks to take on the gig. Next year’s game will be held on Feb. 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
According to the outlet, Rihanna was one of two artists rumored to be in the running for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The source said an announcement could come as early as Sunday afternoon, and they were right! The beauty mogul dropped a single photo of her tatted right hand holding an official NFL regulation football along with “.” as her caption.
The Fenty founder was previously asked to perform at the 2019 halftime show, but she declined the gig. “I couldn’t dare do that. 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,” she told Vogue, at the time.
The “Rude Boy” singer has been promising new music is on the way since circa 2018. Her last album, Anti, was released in 2016. To fans’ surprise, she managed to welcome her first child with boyfriend A$AP Rocky before dropping a new single. Still, this past February she reassured her legion of followers, who she affectionately refers to as The Navy, that she had not forgotten about them.
See her clever Super Bowl announcement below.
“Yes, you’re still going to get music from me. My fans would kill me if they waited this long for a lullaby,” she told “Entertainment Tonight.” Well, as it turns out, new tunes may, in fact, be on the way. Her fans are crossing their fingers that, at the very least, a snippet of a new record will make her halftime show setlist.
At best, it is safe to say that more than a few people are letting out sighs of relief after learning they get to witness Rihanna back in her element. Get into some of their relatable reactions below.