Rihanna has explained why she decided to perform at this year’s Super Bowl after she turned down the opportunity nearly four years ago.
The “Umbrella” singer famously refused the NFL’s invitation to perform the 2019 halftime show in solidarity with former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
In 2016, Kaepernick introduced the concept of taking a knee while the US national anthem was sung in protest of racial justice and police brutality – a concept that the NFL sought to squash.
“There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes,” Rihanna told British Vogue in her first interview since the Super Bowl, “but it’s powerful to break those doors, and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level.
“Two Super Bowls back-to-back,” she said, referring to last year’s headliners, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J Blige and Kendrick Lamar, “you know, representing the urban community, globally. It is powerful. It sends a really strong message.”
“Of course,” she added, “raising a young Black man is one of the scariest responsibilities in life.
“You’re like, ‘What am I leaving my kids to? This is the planet they’re gonna be living on?’ All of those things really start to hit differently.”
The star also said she felt emboldened by motherhood: “It’s this knowing that you can do anything, even things that seem the craziest, like, ‘I’m going to say yes to the Super Bowl in the middle of postpartum?’
“You’re geeked on a challenge like that because you know what your body just did. You feel this sense of ‘Nothing is impossible.’”
The star added that she was also performing for her fans who had missed her as a musician since her last performance in 2016. “It’s me really just getting back onstage – a crazy stage to be back on – but I’m really doing this for my fans,” she said.
Rihanna delivered a similar message at a press conference before the big game, saying: “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, so as scary as that was — because I haven’t been on stage in seven years — there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all. And it’s important for me to do this this year. It’s important for representation. It’s important for my son to see that.”
