Rihanna reveals second pregnancy, soars in Super Bowl halftime performance

Rihanna was above it all. And pregnant to boot.

She began and ended the Super Bowl 57 halftime show hovering high above the field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

The performance lacked the surprise guests stars included in many previous Super Bowl halftimes, save one — her representative revealed afterwards that the singer is pregnant with her second child.

Rihanna wore a puffy, bright red jumpsuit with tight, rubbery garb underneath that showed a baby bump that fueled a wave of social media speculation until the big revelation. She stood on a transparent rectangular platform that raised and lowered as she belted out the lyrics to B***h Better Have My Money over the turf where the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs were battling moments earlier.

Dancers wearing white ski-style suits and shaded goggles had their own suspended platforms that moved in concert with hers.

She and the dancers were lowered to a long stage that matched her outfit as she sped through hits including Work, Where Have You Been, and Only Girl, belting out “Want you to make me feel like I’m the only girl in the world.”

There were also none of the constant costume changes and scene shifts from previous years. The theme — and the colour scheme — stayed the same throughout the 13-minute show, with red lights bathing the stage at times and golden fireworks exploding in the air above her.

The long stage allowed for extended pull-away shots as she stared down the camera and overhead tracking shots of Rihanna and her dancers.

At one point she powdered her face and checked it in a mirror before getting back on the mic.

Lights sparkled from the stands as she was hoisted alone back into the air and sang Diamonds — with its refrain of “shine bright like a diamond” — as the set closed.

Rihanna's performance was her first solo performance event in seven years, and her first since becoming a mother for the first time nine months ago.

A SIMPLY SPANGLED BANNER

Country star Chris Stapleton made the national anthem a simple affair at Super Bowl 57, standing alone on the field accompanied by only his electric guitar as he sang The Star Spangled Banner moments before the Kansas City Chiefs kickoff to the Philadelphia Eagles to start the game.

Dressed simply in smooth black denim and sunglasses, with neatly combed hair instead of his signature feathered cowboy hat, he sang the anthem as a plaintive ballad, picking it up to rock only briefly as he delivered the final lines “banner yet wave” and “land of the free!”

His anthem felt slow, but it clocked in at 2 minutes, 2 seconds, under the 2 minutes, 5 seconds predicted by oddsmakers. But it was more than 10 seconds longer than last year’s sung by another country star, Mickey Guyton.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni and starting center Jason Kelce both had tears in their eyes during Stapleton’s emotional performance.

As the eight-time Grammy winner sang, CODA star Troy Kotsur, the first deaf man to win an acting Oscar, signed the anthem lyrics.

OTHER ANTHEMS

Before Stapleton's anthem, Abbot Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph performed Lift Every Voice and Sing.

And U2 revealed in a commercial late in the game that they were returning to the concert stage for the first time since 2019.