Rihanna has spoken about her motivations for performing at the Super Bowl LVII halftime show, saying that she wanted to represent black women and immigrants as well as for her kid.
The 34-year-old singer looked amazing at Thursday’s Apple Music news conference in Arizona, where she said the show would be “almost impossible” to stage.
Rihanna, who gave birth to her first child with boyfriend A$AP Rocky in May 2018, said during the interview that she was afraid she would regret agreeing to appear on the show so soon after giving birth.
She recalled: ‘I was like, “Psst, you sure?” I’m three months postpartum, like, should I be making major decisions like this now? Like I might regret this. But when you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world, you could do anything.’
She added: ‘It’s important for me to do this this year. It’s important for representation, it’s important for my son to see that.’
She then said, ‘I am excited to have Barbados on the Super Bowl stage. A big part of why it is important for me to do this show, representing immigrants, representing my country Barbados, representing black women everywhere.”
‘I think that is really important, it is key for people to see the possibilities. I am honoured to be doing this this year.’
Rihanna continued by discussing the difficulty she had in getting ready for one of the greatest events in her career so soon after having baby:
‘The physical challenge has definitely been immense, for many reasons, of course. But, I haven’t done this in a minute.
‘First thing’s first, so you’re just running around for 13 minutes, trying to put a two hour set in 13 minutes, and you’re gonna see on Sunday, it just, from the time it starts, it just never ends until it’s like the very last second.
‘Now I’m saying too much? But it’s a jam-packed show, and it takes a toll on your body, it does.’
The long hours spent rehearsing have cut into her time with her son, and she has said that work will always “rob her of time” with her child.
She explained: ‘The balance is almost impossible because no matter how you look at it, work is always something that’s gonna rob you of time with your child.
‘That’s the currency now. That’s where it goes. The magnitude of how much it weighs. When you make decisions on what you’re gonna say yes to, it has to be worth it.’
After a five-year hiatus from live performances, Rihanna will return to the stage at the Super Bowl.Her most recent appearance came in 2018 at the Grammy Awards, where she and DJ Khalid sang “Wild Thoughts.”
In October 2022, Rihanna released Lift Me Up, her first new song since 2016. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the Marvel Studios film, used the song as a memorial to the late actor Chadwick Boseman.
The song garnered the stunning performer her first nominations at both the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards, both in the category of Best Original Song.
