Pregnant Rihanna soars through her hits in Super Bowl 2023 halftime show

The multi-hyphenate performed during Super Bowl LVII's halftime show and revealed she was expecting her second child. The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Rihanna, 34, opened her act with "Bitch Better Have My Money" while perched on a glass platform that hovered above the audience. She was wearing a crimson jumpsuit with a shiny bandeau over her growing belly.

She sang hits including “Work,” “Umbrella” and “Diamonds.” Getty Images

The Grammy winner then ran through hits including “Where Have You Been,” “Only Girl (In the World),” “We Found Love,” “Work” and “Umbrella” from her celebrated catalog. She concluded her 13-minute, firework-filled performance with “Diamonds.”

The high-energy, Apple Music-sponsored production marked the beginning of what was supposed to be Rihanna’s long-awaited comeback, though her pregnancy may delay any plans she had.

The singer started and ended her performance on a levitating platform. USA TODAY Sports

She has not released an album since 2016’s “Anti” and wrapped up her most recent tour in November of that year.

During her extended hiatus, Rihanna only dropped one solo single, “Lift Me Up” from the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” soundtrack, last October.

The singer was spotted walking around State Farm Stadium just ahead of her performance. Diggzy/Shutterstock

The chart-topping superstar spent the rest of her time off building her billion-dollar Fenty empire of beauty products and lingerie. She also became a mom, welcoming a son with her rapper boyfriend, A$AP Rocky, in May 2022.

The singer was spotted walking around State Farm Stadium just ahead of her performance.
Diggzy/Shutterstock

The singer was spotted walking around State Farm Stadium just ahead of her performance. Diggzy/Shutterstock

Rihanna’s decision to perform at this year’s Super Bowl came after she turned down an offer to do the 2019 show in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL player who caused a stir in 2016 when he knelt during the national anthem in a peaceful protest against police brutality and racial inequality.

“I couldn’t care to do [the halftime show]. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people,” she later explained. “I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. There’s things within [the NFL] that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.”

But after Jay-Z, who discovered Rihanna in 2005, partnered with the NFL in 2019 to begin co-producing the league’s live performances, the “Love on the Brain” singer changed her tune.

The NFL announced Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance in September 2022. NFL/Twitter

Jay-Z, 53, therefore had the honor of announcing last September that his onetime protégée had signed on for the 2023 halftime show.

“Rihanna is a generational talent, a woman of humble beginnings who has surpassed expectations at every turn. A person born on the small island of Barbados who became one of the most prominent artists ever. Self-made in business and entertainment,” the “Empire State of Mind” rapper said in a statement.