Super Bowl
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Adele: full-time pop superstar and beloved meme material. A clip of the hitmaker’s presence at the 2023 Super Bowl — specifically for Rihanna‘s halftime show performance — went viral last weekend, and she’s now confirmed what exactly she was saying in a moment that became a meme.
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“I’ve gotta tell you … It’s hard work being a constant meme,” Adele joked from the stage at her Weekends With Adele Las Vegas residency on Friday (Feb. 17).
“Everyone was texting me a meme of myself looking — I don’t know what I looked like,” she added, after musing that maybe her face is entertaining because it moves a lot, as she hasn’t had any Botox treatments.
“I was saying she’s gonna be fine,” explained Adele. “She’s gonna like have some weed and be fine. But clearly she couldn’t have any weed because she’s pregnant!”
On Super Bowl Sunday, Rihanna revealed that she’s expecting her second child, after viewers speculated during her halftime show that she was pregnant.
Rewatch the Super Bowl meme, then hear Adele’s comments about being meme-worthy in the fan-filmed concert clip below.
Justina Miles just opened up about her Super Bowl 2023 playbook for the first time since her American Sign Language interpretation of Rihanna‘s halftime show on Feb. 5 went mega viral. In a candid interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings on Friday (Feb. 17), the performer shared details about how she prepped for game day and revealed what Ri said in a DM to her afterward.
Given how perfectly Miles nailed each and every lyric of the pop star’s halftime show medley of hits — as demonstrated in dozens of TikToks with millions of views and likes — you might be surprised to learn that she only received Ri’s setlist five days before the show. “I was nervous before getting [the setlist], like, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s she gonna do?’” Miles confessed.
“I got it and I’m like, I know all the songs,” she continued. “I was confident. I looked over the lyrics, made sure I got all the meanings right … I memorized the lyrics and the beat, so that way I can sign the lyrics and move to the beat so [viewers] can see the beat rather than hear the beat.”
A nursing student from Maryland, Miles explained that there are different levels of deafness. While she herself can hear to an extent, she is still considered deaf, which makes her the first deaf woman to serve as an interpreter for the Super Bowl. After their performance, she said Ri messaged her directly to congratulate her on the feat.
“I did not get a chance to meet her, but she did DM me,” Miles said. “She was like, ‘Black queen, you’re amazing. We’re BFFs in my head, you were amazing!’ It was beautiful.”
“We practiced in the same vicinity — she did not look pregnant!” she added, referencing the “Lift Me Up” singer’s surprising pregnancy reveal during the show. “I found out after.”
Watch Justina Miles recap her viral Super Bowl performance below:
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Almost a week later, the world still has Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance top of mind. In a recent interview, she explained why she took the stage after declining it years prior.
As per Pitchfork Magazine, the songstress is still riding high from making history with the National Football League. In a new interview with British Vogue, Rihanna details why she reconsidered after telling the organization no years prior due to the treatment of Colin Kaepernick. “There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes,” she said. “But it’s powerful to break those doors, and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level.”
RiRi went on further detail her reasoning. “Two Super Bowls back-to-back, you know, representing the urban community, globally. It is powerful. It sends a really strong message” she added. Interviewer Giles Hattersley stated she became visibly moved when she connected the opportunity to her becoming a new mother. “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?” she said shaking her head. “All of those things really start to hit differently.”
Rihanna also spoke to the elephant in the room regarding her very much anticipated album. “I want it to be this year.” She continued, “Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year. But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos.”
The March 2023 issue of British Vogue, with Rihanna on the cover, hits newsstands Tuesday, Feb. 21.
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In the new issue of British Vogue, featuring a gorgeous cover of Rihanna, A$AP Rocky and their baby boy in his magazine debut, the music icon and Fenty mogul said that her son is “obsessed” with his dad.
“I’m just sitting on the sidelines when they’re together,” she says in the exclusive feature article, seemingly amused by her role in the background. “I’m literally the girl trying to get into the boys club, waiting for my turn. He is obsessed with his father. And I’m like: ‘Didn’t I give birth to you? What is going on?’”
She added, “Their connection is undeniable. The second Rocky makes eye contact with him he is on fire. The whole thing they say about sons and moms, it’s a myth. Sons and fathers is crazy. I realized that the validation that you really need as a boy is from your father.”
The megastar just stunned the world during her Super Bowl appearance last Sunday, Feb. 12 by showing off another baby bump and announcing that she is expecting a second child.
Ri-Ri also shared some insight into her relationship with the A$AP Mob rapper whom she previously dated and had a long friendship. “We’re best friends with a baby,” she says, laughing at their dynamic now. “We have to be on the same page, but we’ve always kind of had that in our relationship. Everything changes when you have a baby but I wouldn’t say it’s done anything but made us closer.”
In the cover story, she also explained why she changed from her previous decision to not perform at the game due to her support of blackballed former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
“There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes,” she says now, “but it’s powerful to break those doors, and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level.” She notes the two previous Super Bowls which demonstrated representation to her, specifically 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.”
She also added that motherhood may have influenced her decision, “Of course,” she says, as the writer notes she is visibly moved, “raising a young Black man is one of the scariest responsibilities in life.” It’s made her re-evaluate everything. “You’re like, ‘What am I leaving my kids to? This is the planet they’re gonna be living on?’” She added, “All of those things really start to hit differently.”
Rihanna’s catalog of songs surged 140% in official U.S. on-demand streams after her Super Bowl LVII halftime performance (Feb. 12), according to initial reports to data tracking firm Luminate (which provides data for Billboard’s charts). On Sunday and Monday (Feb. 12-13), her collected songs (on which she is the primary artist, according to Luminate) tallied 62.2 million on-demand official streams – up 140% from 25.8 million on the two days prior (Feb. 10-11).
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Plus, Rihanna’s on-demand official streams have increased weekly since the top of the year, as anticipation built towards the big game.
In the week ending Dec. 29, 2022, her songs generated 42.3 million on-demand official streams, and in the six subsequent weeks they grew each frame, to: 48.9 million (week ending Jan. 5), 51.5 million (week ending Jan. 12), 53.4 million (week ending Jan. 19), 55.1 million (week ending Jan. 26), 57.1 million (week ending Feb. 2) and 65 million (week ending Feb. 9).
In the first four days of the current tracking week (ending Feb. 16), Rihanna’s songs have generated 88 million clicks, so the full seven days is bound to be robust once the final numbers are available on Feb. 20.
Sales Story: Rihanna’s catalog of songs (again, those where she’s the primary artist, per Luminate) also gained. They sold 42,000 downloads in the U.S. on Sunday and Monday (Feb. 12-13) – up 473% compared to what they sold on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 10-11): 7,500.
Halftime Tunes: The dozen songs (see below) that Rihanna performed during the halftime show (excluding snippets heard briefly) collectively garnered 27.7 million on-demand official streams in the U.S. on Sunday and Monday – up 219.6% compared to the two days prior, when they collected 8.7 million.
The most-streamed halftime-performed song following the Super Bowl was “Umbrella,” with 3.8 million official on-demand streams on Sunday and Monday (up 177% compared to the 1.4 million it snared on Friday and Saturday). “Diamonds” was the second-most streamed halftime tune after the show, with 3.2 million on Sunday and Monday (up 231% compared to 954,000 on Friday and Saturday). “Umbrella” (from 2007) and “Diamonds” (2012) were the final two songs, respectively, that Rihanna performed during the halftime show.
The 12 halftime-performed songs sold 27,000 downloads on Sunday and Monday – up 976% compared to the 2,500 they sold on Friday and Saturday.
Rihanna’s catalog of songs and albums could post sizable gains on Billboard’s weekly charts dated Feb. 25, reflecting the sales and streaming tracking week ending Feb. 16. News of such impact will be reported on Billboard.com in the coming days.
Here are the songs that Rihanna performed (excluding snippets) during the Super Bowl halftime show (with original artist chart credits noted if other than Rihanna): “Bitch Better Have My Money;” “Where Have You Been;” “Only Girl in the World;” “We Found Love,” featuring Calvin Harris; “Rude Boy;” “Work,” featuring Drake; DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts,” featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller; “Pour It Up;” Kanye West’s “All of the Lights,” featuring Rihanna and Kid Cudi; Jay-Z, Rihanna and West’s “Run This Town;” “Umbrella,” featuring Jay-Z; and “Diamonds.”
Rihanna shocked the world when she appeared onstage for the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show on Sunday (Feb. 12), appearing in a stunning red outfit that highlighted her stomach curving with maternity. But as it turns out, none of the “Work” singer’s dancers for the Halftime Show were knowledgeable about her pregnancy either.
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Back-up dancers Laila Hayes and Luhnyae Campbell revealed to Entertainment Tonight on Wednesday (Feb. 15) that Rihanna’s pregnancy was kept under wraps during rehearsals, due to her bundling up because of cold weather. The pair noted that all of the dancers did not find out about the pop star’s pregnancy until watching footage from the televised event.
“We were all confused watching it during the real thing when she went up there and was showing her stomach,” Hayes said. “She wore the same outfit for one of the dress rehearsals but it was zippered up.”
“I never saw a bump,” Campbell added. “Not even the day of. I had to rewatch the performance on YouTube to realize.” In a Feb. 13 TikTok video, Campbell further elaborated on the matter, and said Eih “came into rehearsals with big fur coats, or Fenty sets all the time — like the big sweatshirt ones … I was surprised too.”
Shortly after Rihanna’s Super Bowl spectacle, a representative of the pop star confirmed she and boyfriend A$AP Rocky were expecting their second child together. The Fenty Beauty founder welcomed her first child — a boy — with A$AP Rocky in May.
Watch Campbell discuss Rihanna and the pop star’s Super Bowl pregnancy reveal below.
Will she ever release new music? What are her thoughts on her Super Bowl Halftime Show performance? Holy s–t, she has a nine-month-old baby and is already pregnant with her second? Rihanna‘s fans have questions, and finally, the mystical pop star finally has some answers, thanks to a candid new interview with British Vogue.
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First thing’s first: Will this year finally be the one Rihanna drops her first album since 2016’s Anti? She hopes so. “I want it to be this year,” Rih told the publication in the Wednesday (Feb. 15) profile. “Like, honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year. But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos.”
“I realized that if I keep waiting until this feels right and perfect and better, maybe it’s going to keep taking forever and maybe it’ll never come out and no, I’m not down to that,” she added, revealing that she never actually stopped recording music, but is indecisive about which songs are good enough for release. “I have my ideas in my head, but I can’t say them out loud yet.”
The interview with British Vogue — in which she posed alongside boyfriend A$AP Rocky and their adorable baby son — took place back in January, right after Rih and A$AP attended the Golden Globes together. There was still a month left to go before the “Lift Me Up” singer (who lost the Globe for best original song but is nominated for an Oscar) would perform for the first time in years at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, which went down Sunday (Feb. 12).
Rih expressed feeling nervous for the 13-minute, aerodynamic medley of hits, during which she subtly revealed that she’s pregnant with her second baby. On Sunday, though, it all went off without a hitch.
The publication hinted that the Fenty Beauty founder has been approached by the NFL every year for ten years to perform at halftime, an offer she poignantly declined in 2018 to stand in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. Asked about why she decided to accept this year, Rih said she was inspired by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s 2022 Halftime Show to continue the streak of “representing the urban community, globally.”
“There’s still a lot of mending to be done in my eyes,” she said of the NFL’s infrastructure. “But it’s powerful to break those doors, and have representation at such a high, high level and a consistent level.”
Even before she knew that she’d be pregnant with her second child with Rocky, Rih couldn’t believe she agreed to be this year’s headliner so soon after giving birth to her son, whose name they keep private. “I’m going to say yes to the Super Bowl in the middle of postpartum? What the heck am I thinking?” she recalled thinking.
One major struggle she’s faced since she and Rocky welcomed their baby boy in May last year is the invasiveness of paparazzi. “Throw me to the wolves. Do what you want with me. But he doesn’t have a say in any of this,” Rih said. “We’ve been protecting him thus far and you don’t have any consent to be posting photos or selling photos of my child, a minor. Get the hell out of here with that.”
When it comes to her relationship, though, becoming parents has only strengthened things between her and Rocky, whom she’s been dating since 2020. “We’re best friends with a baby,” Rih told the publication. “We have to be on the same page, but we’ve always kind of had that in our relationship. Everything changes when you have a baby but I wouldn’t say it’s done anything but made us closer.”
After Rihanna’s hits-filled Super Bowl halftime show performance — and unexpected pregnancy reveal! — what could be next for the superstar?
On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, we’re talking all about the buzzy 13-minute set — like what she did perform (“All of the Lights”) and what she surprisingly didn’t (her Oscar-nominated Black Panther song “Lift Me Up”).
Watch Rihanna’s Full 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show
02/15/2023
We’re also wondering: Where does the halftime show go from here? Who could be next year’s headliner? We’ve got questions! So listen to our full chat below.
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on SZA’s SOS bouncing back to No. 1 for an eighth total week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, how a whopping 35 albums all see unit gains on the list thanks in part to the Grammy Awards’ broadcast, and how best new artist winner Samara Joy jumps to No. 1 on multiple charts after her surprise win.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
Back in 2018, then-13-year-old Ryan McKenna made headlines for a viral selfie he took with Justin Timberlake during the Super Bowl halftime show. However, this week, McKenna is back in the news after he was arrested in Naples, Florida.
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According to TMZ, who first shared the news, the 18-year-old got into an argument with his 15-year-old friend at California Pizza Kitchen and ended up pushing a table. Police told the publication that the shopping center security attempted to escort McKenna off the property, but he became increasingly aggressive and ended up grabbing an officer’s hand when it was placed on his chest to stop the fight. That’s when he was arrested and booked at Naples Jail Center for felony battery on a law enforcement officer and two misdemeanors, resisting arrest and obstruction of an officer.
McKenna’s mom, Tracy, told TMZ that her son wasn’t drunk, as the initial report said, but rather just “horsing around” with his friends. One of the people he was hanging out with pulled the chair out from under him, and that’s when he pushed the table in an attempt to be funny.
“I just thought to myself, ‘I’ll never get this opportunity again in my whole life,” the Massachusetts said in 2018 after snapping his selfie with Timberlake. “I just went for it.”
McKenna’s dad said they realized very quickly that his son was turning into an internet sensation. “My phone started blowing up,” father John McKenna told St. Paul Pioneer Press at the time. “It died, like, instantly after it happened. We had friends from all over reaching out. I couldn’t believe it.”
Olivia Wilde is not having it. On Monday, the actress clapped back at trolls who criticized her for calling A$AP Rocky “hot” during Rihanna‘s Super Bowl halftime performance.
“For anyone who got it twisted [eyeroll emoji]… It’s hot to respect your partner,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories. “Especially when your partner just did thaaaaaat.”
Earlier in the day, Wilde had taken heat from her followers for posting a separate, since-expired Story on which she had written, “If I thought he was hot before, this really put me over the edge,” over footage of the “Same Problems?” rapper proudly filming RiRi from his front-row view of the field.
Not only did Rihanna use the Super Bowl spotlight to reassert her position as one of the biggest pop superstars of the last two decades after a seven-year hiatus; she also slyly revealed that she’s expecting her second child with A$AP Rocky less than a year after giving birth to their son. The effortless 13-minute set included tracks from nearly ever era of Rihanna’s discography — from “What’s My Name” and “Only Girl (In the World)” to “Pour It Up,” “Work,” “Umbrella” and “Diamonds.”
Wilde, meanwhile, is recently single after splitting from Harry Styles in late 2022. The pair were linked for nearly two years, starting in January 2021 and throughout the release of sci-fi thriller Don’t Worry Darling, which WIlde directed and co-starred in while Styles served as the film’s leading man.
Get a look at Wilde’s follow-up thoughts on A$AP Rocky here before her Story expires.