When Rihanna announced she’d be returning to performing at this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday, February 12, her fans went wild. Could this mean the pop star was making a return to music? Her last performance was in 2018 at the Grammy Awards, and since then the musical artist has been seemingly focused on her beauty empire and becoming a new mother, leaving some were wondering if she’d ever get back to her first love: music.
But it seems like the Halftime show is just the beginning— Rihanna is reportedly planning to announce a global tour. A source told The Sun, “She has her North American dates ready to announce for 2023 after the Super Bowl and it will be a matter of time before European dates are announced for 2024.”
The source added, “Her plan is to set up mini residencies in major cities rather than visit multiple places.”
The Anti singer has also been seen at the studio these past few months, though some people suggested she might be visiting A$AP Rocky. However, with the release of Black Panther 2: Wakanda Forever came two songs for the soundtrack by Rihanna, “Lift Me Up” and “Born Again. So she has been recording, though the promise of a tour does not necessarily go hand-in-hand with a new album.
The source did say she’ll be keeping the rumored touring short, because her focus is still on Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty.
In November of last year, Rihanna told E! News‘ Justin Sylvester that even the Super Bowl halftime show is just 12 minutes long, so she isn’t really nervous about filling the time after putting on two hour shows most of her performing history. However, she is considering some surprise guests.
“Twelve minutes?” she said. “You could actually do that by yourself, but it’s one of those things where you can decorate it however you want. So whether I choose to do it for myself or whether I choose to bring some of my peers on, it’s…I don’t know what I’m gonna do yet.”
She added, “It’s gonna be great either way.”
Aimée Lutkin is the weekend editor at ELLE.com. Her writing has appeared in Jezebel, Glamour, Marie Claire and more. Her first book, The Lonely Hunter, will be released by Dial Press in February 2022.