Rihanna said she’s open to “exploring, discovering and creating” new music that she says fans might find “strange” compared to her previous sounds.
- READ MORE: Rihanna’s Super Bowl show will be an uplifting reminder of her all-around genius
As announced last year, the pop star will reappear live this Sunday, February 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona for Super Bowl LVII. Rihanna had previously said that performing on this show was “an entertainer’s dream”.
During a press conference before the show, the artist said: “I feel open to exploring, to discovering, to creating new things, different things, things that are out of place, weird, that don’t may never make sense to my fans. I just want to play, I want to have fun with the music.”
He also said he had already changed his set list 39 times at Super Bowl halftime. The show will last 13 minutes, but Rihanna has a career that spans eight albums and 17 years.
“Some songs we have to lose because of that, and nothing happens,” he said at the press conference. “We’ve done a good job narrowing it down. There’s probably been around 39 releases of the setlist right now. We’re going to have 39. Every little change matters.”
And he added: “The Super Bowl is one of the greatest stages in the world. Even though it scared me, because I hadn’t stepped on a stage in seven years, there is something exhilarating about it. in all this challenge. It’s important for me to do it this year. It’s important for my son to see it.
In 2018, Rihanna received an offer to headline the 2019 halftime show. She turned down the offer in an attempt to show solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who was the first NFL player to take a knee in protest against police brutality in 2016.
Notably, Rihanna hasn’t released an album since 2016, when she released her eighth studio album “Anti.” The artist has not performed live since appearing at the 2018 Grammy Awards.
Last year’s Super Bowl featured Dr. Dre as the headliner and guest performers Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg and Mary J. Blige.