Rihanna is set to star in the Super Bowl in February 2023, the NFL announced on Sunday.—
NEW YORK ( AP ):
Rihanna will take centerstage at February’s Super Bowl half-time show.
The singer, who declined to perform at the 2019 Super Bowl half-time show out of solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, will headline the 2023 Super Bowl, the NFL announced on Sunday, along with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and Apple Music. Rihanna posted an image on Instagram of an arm outstretched holding an NFL football.
“Rihanna is a generational talent, a woman of humble beginnings who has surpassed expectations at every turn,” Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter, whose Roc Nation is an executive producer of the show, said in a statement. “A person born on the small island of Barbados who became one of the most prominent artistes ever. Self-made in business and entertainment.”
The Super Bowl will take place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on February 12. After years of Pepsi’s sponsorship, the upcoming half-time show will be sponsored by Apple Music.
Rihanna earlier said she turned down a similar opportunity for the 2019 Super Bowl that was ultimately headlined by Maroon 5. At the time, many artistes voiced support for Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback whose 2016 national anthem protests sparked debate throughout football.
“I couldn’t dare do that. For what?” Rihanna told Vogue in 2019. “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 said of the league.
With sales of more than 250 million records worldwide, Rihanna ranks as one of the best-selling female artistes ever. Her last album was 2016’s Anti.
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