Will Rihanna surprise her audience with a stunning performance at the Super Bowl and her long-awaited ninth studio album?
Not long after Rihanna, 34, and the NFL confirmed she’d headline the Super Bowl LVII halftime show, the “Work” singer hit a recording studio that gave the impression she might be putting the finishing touches on of her long-awaited sequel to 2016’s Anti.
On Monday (September 26), Rih entered the recording studio while carrying a massive purple Chanel bag. She dressed casually for the excursion. She was wearing a black jacket that was too big for her, a shirt with a colorful print on the front, a pair of gray Adidas shoes and her characteristic calm demeanor.
This is the fourth time in recent weeks that the paparazzi have caught Rih visiting a studio. On September 14, she and A$AP Rocky hosted a late night session at a studio in West Hollywood. They returned after a few days, leading to rumors that they weren’t just taking some time off after the birth of their first child in May, as initially claimed.
When Rocky, 33, and Rich re-entered the Los Angeles studio on the 18th, it was hard not to wonder if Rihanna’s ninth album could make its debut in 2023.
After all, acts in the past have used the Super Bowl halftime show as a springboard for their own national or even world tour. Rihanna, who hasn’t made a public appearance since the 2018 Grammy Awards, posted a selfie of herself clutching an NFL-branded football on her Twitter account on September 25.
This announcement came in response to rumors that Taylor Swift would be performing during the big game. “Let’s go Rihanna,” Roc Nation’s official Twitter account said after adding the hashtag.
Rih will perform at the sports spectacle, which will be held at Glendale’s State Farm Stadium on February 12, according to a response from the organization and JAY-entertainment Z’s record label, which has been responsible for producing the Halftime Show for the past four years.
The National Football League (NFL) partnered with Roc Nation after receiving criticism for essentially trolling Colin Kaepernick in the wake of his protests against police killings of people of color.
Rihanna had the opportunity to host the halftime show in the past, but she turned it down as a show of support for the suspended QB. In 2019, she informed Vogue magazine, “Absolutely,” that she was pregnant. “I wouldn’t have the guts to do that. Why exactly? Who exactly benefits from this? Not this group of people.
I just couldn’t be a salesman. I wasn’t going to be a facilitator. There are aspects of this group that I completely disagree with and as a result I would not volunteer my time or help them under any circumstances.