January 24, 2023:
To some, the biggest night in music won’t be Coachella, The Grammys, The Eras Tour, or the nu-metal nostalgia weekender that is Sick New World. No, for fans who have been waiting for years, the biggest night of music takes place on Feb. 12, when Rihanna headlines the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Rihanna’s NAVY has been anticipating new music from Rihanna since she dropped Anti in 2016. They have also been counting down the months for this performance ever since the NFL announced that she would follow 2022’s hip-hop extravaganza (Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, 50 Cent, and Anderson .Paak), which itself followed The Weeknd in 2021 and Jennifer Lopez/Shakira in 2020.
With the game fast approaching, here’s what you need to know.
One word: Rihanna.
She confirmed her return to the stage on Sept. 25 by posting a photo of her holding an NFL-branded football. Soon afterward, both Roc Nation – Jay-Z’s production company producing the Super Bowl Halftime show since 2020 – and the NFL confirmed that Rihanna was the 2023 Halftime headliner.
“I can’t believe I even said yes. It was one of those things that even when I announced it, I was like, ‘OK, I can’t take it back. Now, it’s like final,’” Rihanna told Entertainment Tonight in November 2022. “The Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, it’s an entertainer’s dream to be on a stage like that. But it’s nerve-racking. You want to get it right. You know, everybody’s watching. And they’re rooting for you. And I want to get it right.”
Rihanna said that being a new mother, “nothing would have gotten me out of the house if it wasn’t a challenge like that. You could get real comfortable being at home as a mom, [so this is] challenging myself to do something that I’ve never done before in my career. I have to live up to that challenge.” During the interview, Rihanna wouldn’t share what she had planned but shared that she wanted to “incorporate a lot of culture” into her performance.
“I want to incorporate different aspects of entertainment and things that I just enjoy and bring it to the stage,” she said. “I want to celebrate the music that I’ve made.”
Rihanna probably doesn’t have to worry. Snoop Dogg things she has it in the bag. “I can’t give her any advice,” Snoop told HollywoodLife when asked if he had any pointers. “She’s one of the greatest to do it. She knows what to do. But I do know that she’s gonna create a show that everyone will talk about for many generations.”
Super Bowl LVII, aka Super Bowl 2023, takes place at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The stadium is home to the Arizona Cardinals, who finished last in the NFC West with a 4-13 record (and a 1-8 record at home.) So, this will be a rare time that people are happy following a game played at State Farm Stadium. Sorry not sorry, Cards.
With the game happening in Arizona, the halftime show will also occur at State Farm Stadium.
The most significant change this time is that Apple Music has replaced Pepsi as the primary sponsor and naming rights of the Super Bowl Halftime show.
As of Jan. 24, 2023, four teams are remaining. The Philadelphia Eagles soared over the New York Giants, 38-7, to secure a spot in the NFC Championship game. They’ll face the San Francisco 49ers, who outlasted the Dallas Cowboys, 19-12, to punch their way to the conference championship game. The winner of that match will go on to Super Bowl LVII.
They will face the winner of the Cincinnati Bengals – Kansas City Chiefs game. The Bengals broke the heart of everyone in Buffalo by routing the Buffalo Bills 27-10. The Chiefs had to claw their way past the Jacksonville Jaguars, 27-20, and star quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffered a high-ankle sprain in the game. With many wondering if Mahomes will be healthy for the AFC Championship, Cincinnati is poised to return to the Super Bowl and avenge their LVI loss.
To watch the Super Bowl in 2023, one can do it in a variety of ways. This year, FOX will host the Super Bowl, meaning cable subscribers can tune into their local FOX affiliate and catch all the action. People who don’t have cable but have a modern digital antenna can likely catch FOX over the airwaves.
But what if you don’t have a TV or the idea of an antenna is obnoxiously obsolete? Cord cutters can tune into Hulu+Live TV, fuboTV, Sling TV, or YouTube TV to watch. These services allow you to stream FOX on your smart TVs and devices without a cable subscription.
By the way, kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 PM EST. The game typically lasts about four hours, meaning that Halftime should start around 8:00 or 8:30 PM EST. The game should be done by around 10:30 PM EST if there isn’t any overtime.
The NFL announced on Jan. 24 that country star Chris Stapleton would perform the United States national anthem at Super Bowl LVII. Chris continues a streak of country stars singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Big Game, with Mickey Guyton performing the anthem in 2022.
Ahead of the 2022 Super Bowl, Mickey revealed that she received hate comments over her securing the gig. “This is what I see in my mentions on a daily basis,” she said while reposting a troll’s comments about how she was “country music’s resident black woman” who only got the job “because she’s black and she’s female. No other reason.” Mickey said that this kind of hate “never stops. But guess what? I will never stop.”
The NFL also announced that Babyface will sing “America The Beautiful.” The R&B legend and producer/writer of 125 Top 10 hit records – including 44 No. 1 R&B hits and 16 No. 1 Pop Hits – will show why he’s a twelve-time Grammy Award-winner when he sings the song ahead of the game.
Fresh off her Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Performance in a Television Series, Sheryl Lee Ralph will showcase her Tony Award-nominated voice (she was up for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical for Dreamgirls in 1982) at the Super Bowl. The Abbot Elementary star, whose voice could move clouds and shake the ground, will bring gravitas and grace when she performs “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a hymn referred to as “The Black national anthem” in America.
In addition to the performers, the NFL will commemorate 50 years of women flying in the U.S. Navy. The service will conduct a flyover of State Farm Stadium during the national anthem with women aviators as part of the formation. The NFL announced that the “formation will be composed of an F-35C Lightning II from the “Argonauts” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 147, two F/A-18F Super Hornets from the “Flying Eagles” of VFA-122, and an EA-18G Growler from the “Vikings” of Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 129.”
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