Superstar Rihanna will headline the Super Bowl halftime show in Arizona in February, per an announcement from the NFL. The singer announced the good news on Twitter, posting an image of an NFL-branded football.
Super Bowl organizers called the nine-time Grammy winner a “generational talent” in a press release on Sunday night.
The show is one of the most sought after slots in the music world as this year will be a 14-minute show with over 120 million viewers, said the NFL. The star-studded lineup includes Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar.
The show also won an Emmy for Outstanding Variety Special (Live).
“Rihanna is a once-in-a-generation artist who has been a cultural force throughout her career,” said Seth Dudowsky, NFL’s head of Music.
Jay-Z, who owns Roc Nation, which will help organize the performance, even described the superstar as a “woman of humble beginnings who has surpassed expectations at every turn.”
He added, “A person born on the small island of Barbados who became one of the most prominent artists ever. Self-made in business and entertainment.”
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Rihanna Changed Her Mind
Rihanna’s acceptance of the offer is an abrupt turn from the singer, who rejected the initial offer to headline the show in 2019 to show support for NFL star Colin Kaepernick – a former quarterback playing for the San Francisco 49ers.
Kaepernick hasn’t played in the league since 2016 following his action to kneel during the pre-game national anthem. It sparked a global movement against racism.
Later, he sued the NFL, accusing the league’s execs of conspiring against him in the sport.
At the time, Rihanna stated that she would have been an “enabler” if she had confirmed her performance for the show.
“I just couldn’t be a sell-out,” she said in an interview with Vogue magazine. “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.”
Earlier, many social media outlets reported that popstar Taylor Swift declined an offer to headline the show, deciding to re-record numerous albums instead.
This is not surprising, as Swift announced last year that she had plans to re-release her first six albums to have full credit for her music. The move came after the acquisition of her master recordings in 2019 by music tycoon Scooter Braun and his selling of them to an investment fund.
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Photo: Hawt Celebs
