For her return in public in front of a microphone, Rihanna has chosen a show to her measure: the most watched event on television in the United States. The singer will host the always spectacular Super Bowl halftime concert next February, Apple Music, the main sponsor of this show with massive audiences and immense financial impact, announced on Sunday.
“IT’S ON” tweeted Apple Music, adding that “Rihanna will be on stage” on February 12, 2023 in Glendale, Arizona during the American football championship final. The account shares an illustration of a photo published on social networks by the singer of Umbrella and Diamonds, showing his tattooed hand and holding an American football. The snap was picked up by the NFL American Football League.
The singer from Barbados has for several years put music aside, at least publicly, to devote herself in particular to her cosmetics brand Fenty. She will succeed Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and Eminem. These legends of rap had, during the “halftime show” last February, chained the essential titles during an impeccably choreographed performance.
Apple Music, main sponsor of the concert
The last American football championship final, won by the Rams against the Bengals, had attracted an average of some 112.3 million spectators (television and streaming), according to NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, its broadcaster. The big halftime concert has been produced since 2019 by the group Roc Nation, founded by New York rapper and now wealthy businessman Jay-Z. Apple Music for its part announced in September that it was becoming the main sponsor of the concert, ousting Pepsi, and paying for it 50 million dollars according to the press.
In 2021, Canadian artist The Weeknd hosted the halftime show, after Jennifer Lopez and Shakira in 2020. The biggest stars took to the stage during the Super Bowl, such as Michael Jackson, U2 or Madonna. The event also had its scandal when, in 2004, a bare breast of Janet Jackson appeared on the screen after a too vigorous gesture from her partner on stage Justin Timberlake.