Rihanna will carry out on the Tremendous Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., on Feb. 12 because the N.F.L. enters the primary yr of a brand new take care of Apple Music as major sponsor of the halftime present, changing Pepsi.
The announcement is an about-face for the singer, who was among the many artists who rebuffed invites to carry out on soccer’s greatest stage in help of Colin Kaepernick, the previous 49ers quarterback who has been unable to discover a new staff since he turned a free agent in March 2017. Kaepernick accused the league of blackballing him due to his kneeling in the course of the nationwide anthem to protest police brutality towards Black individuals.
Dealing with participant protests and an impending lack of cachet for the present, the N.F.L. in 2019 signed on Jay-Z and Roc Nation, the rapper’s leisure and sports activities firm, as “reside music leisure strategist,” to seek the advice of on the Tremendous Bowl halftime present and contribute to the league’s activism marketing campaign, Encourage Change.
“Rihanna is a generational expertise, a girl of humble beginnings who has surpassed expectations at each flip. An individual born on the small island of Barbados who turned one of the outstanding artists ever. Self-made in enterprise and leisure,” Jay-Z mentioned in an announcement.