A lot has happened since Rihanna, one of the most famous singers in the world, last released an album. Two presidencies, a global pandemic, the invention of TikTok and five new Taylor Swift albums all postdate 2016’s Anti, the Barbadian singer’s last full-length project before a seemingly eternal hiatus from music.
Rihanna’s return to the stage during Sunday’s Super Bowl half-time show – her first live performance since pitching in to help DJ Khaled on Wild Thoughts at the 2018 Grammys – does not guarantee new music. Even the singer has joked that R9 (the colloquial name for her next, ninth LP) may be lost to time. But it does herald a megawatt return to the music spotlight for one of pop’s most reliable hit-makers, who has for nearly seven years devoted her energy elsewhere.
