Rihanna gains a whopping 3 million new followers on Instagram a day after her performance at the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show.
The Bajan pop star was already one of the most followed human beings on Instagram in the world, but there are still a lot of folks who have yet to discover her account and her music. According to preliminary data, 118 million people tuned into Rihanna’s Super Bowl Halftime show performance, 5 million more than the 113 million that actually watched the Super Bowl.
On the day of the Super Bow, Sunday, February 12, Rihanna had 140 million followers on Instagram, and on Monday, she climbed to 143 million followers. Additionally, she saw a reported 800% increase in search volume for her Fenty Beauty brand. Considering she was not paid for the performance, it’s a big win for the singer/businesswoman.
Like all other big name performers at the Super Bowl Halftime show, Rihanna was not paid for the performance. The NFL has never been shy about the halftime show gig being free, but performers gained considerably in marketing for their brand, as in the case with Rihanna.
Despite it not being a paid gig, the biggest stars in music on the planet have all take up the offer to perform at one of the biggest sporting event on the planet.
Rihanna study Beyonce Super Bowl Performance
Rihanna shared that she was inspired by past performances by Beyoncé and used her 2013 and 2016 shows to guide her. While on Nate Burleson’s The Process podcast on Sunday ahead of the Super Bowl live performance, Rihanna shared how she prepared for the Super Bowl by watching Beyoncé rock her past performances.
“I watched Beyoncé’s halftime performances a couple of times,” Rihanna said. “She is a beast and a whole other level. Just to be inspired, really.”
Beyoncé performed at the 2013 Super Bowl halftime Show, and like Rihanna, her performance was solo despite her vast catalog of hits. At the end of her performance, she brought out special guests, her former Destiny Child band mates, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams.
Beyoncé also performed at the 2016 Halftime Show, where she headlined alongside Coldplay and Bruno Mars.
Rihanna previously spoke about her fears about accepting the invitation to headline the auspicious show, especially as it had come just as she was recovering from giving birth and also the fact that she had been absent from the entertainment scene for almost seven (7) years.
“It was so scary because it was kind of unexpected,” she said. “My son was only maybe 3 months old. I haven’t performed in seven years,” Rihanna said. “2016 was my last tour — that to me was the last time I remember being out there on the stage….but to come back from zero to the Super Bowl, that’s kind of nuts,” Rihanna mused.
Last week, Rihanna sat down with sponsor Apple Music where she revealed that her decision to perform had to do with representation and how she wanted her son to see her.
“That’s a big part of why this is important for me to do this show: representation,” she said. “Representing for immigrants; representing for my country, Barbados; representing for Black women everywhere. I just think that’s really important.”
Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance had a big surprise on Sunday as she revealed that she did indeed bring a “guest,” her growing baby bump, as she used the Super Bowl to announce she is pregnant with her second baby with A$AP Rocky.
