Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Tonight, the world’s most famous lingerie saleswoman made a major career pivot. After an extended hiatus from the stage, Rihanna shook Arizona’s State Farm Stadium with a medley of her iconic hits that melted faces on pure nostalgia factor alone. It was a show that only someone like Rihanna—who has too many chart-topping songs to count on two hands—could achieve. And that’s because, like Rihanna, it was far more chill compared to the unforgettable halftime shows of the recent past.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, of course. Madonna and Katy Perry had larger-than-life set pieces which they used to announce their icon status. The Weeknd had a conceptual show in-line with his album aesthetics. Lady Gaga wouldn’t get off that stage without letting everyone in the world know that she has every talent under the sun. Rihanna, however, shirked all of that in favor of something entirely unexpected: a relatively low-key medley of high-energy hits that let the set list do all the talking. Well, that and a bright-red outfit that lit the internet on fire about a suspected baby bump. (People has since confirmed that the star is expecting her second child.)
The announcement that Rihanna would perform at this year’s Super Bowl was a proclamation that made waves around the world; everyone and their literal mothers were waiting for the Rih-turn of one of the millennium’s most seminal popstars. After the release of her last (and, inarguably, best) studio album Anti at the top of 2016, Rihanna took a step back from her near-annual album release schedule to focus on creating her fashion and beauty empire.