The Super Bowl is an event eagerly anticipated by football fans worldwide. Not only does it mark the conclusion of the NFL season, but it also captivates millions with its iconic halftime show. At Super Bowl LVlI, American NFL fans were treated to the highly anticipated musical comeback of Rihanna, the chart-topping “Diamonds” superstar. 

After a six-year hiatus focused on her Fenty line and motherhood, the 34-year-old artist returned to the stage. She delivered a riveting concert that momentarily interrupted the thrilling football game unfolding before the eyes of viewers worldwide. What pushed RiRi, who ‘couldn’t be a sell-out’ to give the “most-watched” performance of the Super Bowl history?

RiRi’s Larger-than-Life Performance That Made History

This talented Barbados babe has done it again! With over 1.6 billion people tuning in, she is again making history with her incredible performance at Super Bowl LVII. After a six-year hiatus, the 34-year-old singer and entrepreneur lit up the halftime show with 12 of her best songs. All the while sporting a gorgeous baby bump… 

It wasn’t until after her performance at Glendale, Arizona’s State Farm Stadium, that she announced that she was expecting her second child with boyfriend A$AP Rocky. She also performed several songs that peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, including “Only Girl (in the World),” “We Found Love,” “S&M,” “Rude Boy,” “Work,” and many others. Rihanna’s concert was indeed a work of art, even if it had to share the spotlight with a football game. Though right after her performance, Rihanna’s Apple Music listeners increased by a startling 331% across the globe. It was significantly more than any of Shakira and JLo or other performers in the history of the Super Bowl.

Not to mention that the same Super Bowl game, Chiefs VS Eagles, was the most-watched in history, as reported by Neilsen. However, per the latest Associated Press report, the initial rating of this year’s game was 113.1 million has been adjusted by 2 million! It was due to encoding inconsistencies and problems with measuring out-of-home viewership. Now, the viewership of this match has set a new record of 115.1 million!

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This surpassed the previous record of 114.442 million viewers set by the 2015 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. It won’t be wrong to say that she has reached an all-time high with Bowl LVII, way past the well-known Waka Waka, adding up a notch to RiRi’s beautiful legacy. It was worth the wait! But it had made many fans wonder why Rihanna hadn’t performed before.

The Caribbean Queen Stood in Solidarity with The Community 

It had been over half a decade since the Super Bowl eagerly anticipated Rihanna’s performance. Despite receiving previous offers, she declined due to her solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick is a social activist and American football player who succeeded as a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers (2011-2016) in the NFL. However, in 2016, he kneeled during the national anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality against African Americans.

In an interview with Vogue, the singer discussed why she declined the odder in detail, saying: “I couldn’t dare do that. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people. I just couldn’t be a sell-out. I couldn’t be an enabler. There are 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.” Though she did make it, and oh, she made history alright! 

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