Rihanna

Rihanna did not bring any other artists to the stage, preferring to frame the set as a celebration of her dominant pop career. The performance also served ...

[The Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/rihanna-entertainment-sports-motherhood-music-14ea73006505a33793e3af992b083a2c) in an interview shortly after she was announced as the halftime headliner, “Super Bowl is one thing. The staging was dramatic and visually striking, as Rihanna hovered over the crowd on an elevated platform that descended from above, and some of her dancers remained poised above the field throughout the set. Despite performing parts of several songs that feature high-profile rappers — “Work,” her hit single with Drake; “Umbrella,” which features Jay-Z; and Kanye West’s “All of the Lights,” on which Rihanna guests — she did not bring any other artists to the stage, preferring to frame the set as a celebration of her dominant pop career. Ever the savvy businesswoman, her halftime performance featured a bit of product placement, when she paused for a moment to reapply some Fenty Beauty powder. 1 smashes like “We Found Love,” “Diamonds” and “Only Girl (in the World),” leaning into the up-tempo and dancier sides of her catalog. The performance also served as a pregnancy reveal.

Many speculated that singer Rihanna might be pregnant again after her halftime performance at the 2023 Super Bowl. They were right.

Many speculated on Sunday that the singer and business mogul was expecting her second child because she briefly rubbed her belly during her Super Bowl set. Rihanna is pregnant with her second child, a representative for the musician confirmed to the Los Angeles Times shortly after this year’s Super Bowl halftime show. The Super Bowl speculation is true: Rihanna is pregnant with her second child

Rihanna performed for the first time in years at the Super Bowl 2023 halftime show. And the main thing people are asking now is: Is she pregnant?

9 press conference](https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/09/super-bowl-2023-halftime-show-rihanna-interview/69888697007/) in downtown Phoenix ahead of the game. [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). He took a video and applauded along, according to the video. She posted Instagram photos and a TikTok showing off her Team Rhianna fandom. Much more efficient than springing for a Super Bowl commercial, if you ask me. @SymoneElena said what a lot of us were thinking by tweeting, "Rihanna pregnant or am I disrespectful??" [Phoenix's Afro Caribbean community celebrates Rihanna at the Super Bowl](https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2023/02/09/arizonas-afro-caribbean-community-celebrates-rihanna-for-super-bowl/69867186007/) Kansas City Chiefs match, to the delight of fans around the world. "I'm really excited to have Barbados on the Super Bowl stage." [Pregnant and stunning in red, Rihanna crushed the Super Bowl 2023 halftime show](https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/12/rihannas-super-bowl-2023-halftime-show-review/69897354007/) [whether Rihanna is pregnant](https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/12/rihanna-pregnant-super-bowl-halftime-show/69897526007/) nine months after giving birth to her first son, with some posts more tactful than others. [Apple Music Super Bowl 57 Halftime Show](https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/10/rihanna-super-bowl-2023-halftime-show-behind-the-scenes/69885859007/) during the Philadelphia Eagles vs.

A well-placed belly rub inspired speculation during the performance, with a rep confirming the news following the show.

[said in an interview](https://twitter.com/shannonsharpeee/status/1624564765174665216) that she was “thinking about bringing someone,” which many interpreted, in retrospect, as the singer hinting at the news. [Super Bowl Halftime Show performance](https://time.com/6253747/rihanna-super-bowl-halftime-show-predictions/), Rihanna took the stage with a half-zipped bright red jumpsuit. Rihanna also said that being a new mom made her feel like “you could take on the world — you can do anything.” There was also speculation that Rihanna was hinting at a pregnancy after she rubbed her belly during the performance. During a press conference with the show’s sponsor, Apple Music, leading up to her performance, Rihanna spoke about being offered the opportunity to take the Super Bowl Halftime stage three months after giving birth to her son. I might regret this,’” she said during the event.

From her pregnancy reveal to her set list, here's what you need to know about Rihanna's halftime show performance for the 2023 Super Bowl.

Neither of those happened, but the Super Bowl Halftime Show marked her long-awaited return to music, and now the world waits to see what happens next. [historic game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs](https://time.com/6254557/super-bowl-2023-black-quarterbacks-mahomes-hurts/) was settled, the true winner of Super Bowl LVII was [Rihanna](https://time.com/6251429/rihanna-fashion-best-moments/), who made her triumphant return to [live performance](https://time.com/6250929/best-rihanna-performances-super-bowl/) on the biggest of stages: the Halftime Show. As fans took in her performance, much of the conversation focused, as it so often does in our gossip-centric culture, on her postpartum body. Her long-awaited show had been hyped for months leading up to tonight’s musical comeback, and fans were satisfied with the results. While it’s become customary for most Halftime headliners to feature special guests during their shows, Rihanna broke with tradition and was the sole performer during the performance, relying instead on the impeccable talents of her dozens of backup dancers, who wined, body-rolled, and dropped it low. While her epic performance more than delivered the show-stopping celebration of her many hits that [her fans had anticipated](https://time.com/6253747/rihanna-super-bowl-halftime-show-predictions/), it was also filled with plenty of surprises—including choreography from her frequent collaborator Parris Goebel, a cheeky Fenty product placement, and a well-placed belly rub that set the Internet ablaze with pregnancy speculations, as well as criticism that so much focus shifted from her musical return to the status of her postpartum body. Rihanna’s look consisted of a striking red bodysuit with a matching red patent breastplate from Loewe, worn under a jumpsuit in the same bright shade. For one thing, prolifically: immediately after the performance, Twitter would not load tweets for a couple of minutes. Her electrifying performance signaled that even though it’s been seven years since we’ve had a new album from Rihanna, the bad gal can still bring it when it comes to putting on a show. During the show, the word “pregnant” began trending on Twitter, with viewers reading into a belly rub she did while singing the lyric “life inside” and a quote she gave during a pre-show interview in which she said, “I’m thinking about bringing someone.” Others criticized the speculation and the mass effort to investigate a woman’s reproductive status, saying that the moment should be about her return to music and what this means for her career, not about her body. The sporty, futuristic look was complemented by white Hazmat suit-esque costumes her backup dancers wore, paired with reflective sunglasses and mesh undershirts. “I’m three months postpartum, like, should I be making major decisions like this now?’ Like, ‘I might regret this,’” she said.

The singer surprised fans as she delivered a hit-heavy performance at the half-time show.

Fans of Rihanna admit the singer doesn't necessarily have the best voice in music. And surely everybody can all be grateful that her set wasn't dragged down by her most recent release - Lift Me Up from the soundtrack to Marvel's Wakanda Forever. In the late noughties and early 2010s, she churned out chart-toppers faster than the industry's top songwriters could compose them. But monster hits such as Rude Boy were balanced with the somewhat harder-edged and lesser-known Pour It Up. Model Cara Delevingne was among the attendees sporting one on Sunday. I couldn't be an enabler," she said at the time. Instead, Rihanna deployed some her biggest hits as she hurtled towards the end of her set, climaxing with her ode to British weather, Umbrella, and the rousing, anthemic Diamonds. But what has set Rihanna apart from some of her peers is the sheer number of hits she has to her name. Weird but whatever." "I just couldn't be a sellout. [her representatives confirmed](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/rihanna-pregnant-rep-confirms-super-bowl-halftime-show-1235323383/) the singer was indeed pregnant with her second child. The singer rattled through several of her most recognisable hits, front-loading her set with some of her most danceable and up-tempo numbers including Only Girl (In The World) and the excellent Where Have You Been.

After seven years largely away from the stage, the singer and mogul used the halftime show to perform a dozen hits, nod to her nonmusical business and ...

And for Rihanna, playing halftime is a milestone befitting the scope of her achievements. Rihanna — one of the crucial pop hitmakers of the 21st century — needs the Super Bowl less than the Super Bowl needs her, and her performance was a master class in doing exactly enough. So in its marketing, the Super Bowl amplified how it was a coup to land her most visible effort in years. But the involvement of The event was the event. There was little variation in tone or energy, no aesthetic nods to the lightly themed set list. But for Rihanna, who [last year gave birth to her first child](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/07/style/rihanna-pregnancy-fashion.html), it was a stroke of performance savvy nonetheless — maybe the only gesture that could outshine, and reframe, the show she had just given. And she had not performed a show of this scale since 2016. Rihanna’s hits are plentiful — she has charted more than 60 times on the Billboard Hot 100 — and they are varied. During “Work,” she led them as if she were a tutor calling out moves but not participating in them. In 13 minutes, Rihanna casually performed snippets of 12 hits, universally known songs that don’t require much in the way of fluffing or bombast. She followed that song immediately with “Run This Town,” another collaboration with Ye (and Jay-Z).

Rihanna becomes the latest Black woman musician to perform on the world's biggest stage. As anticipated, she delivered a spectacular halftime performance at ...

And while the halftime performance is unpaid, surely Rihanna and her same-race, same-gender predecessors would advocate for paying Black women equitably in every music industry role that involves compensation. The one [critique I offered in ](https://www.ebony.com/op-ed-super-bowl-black-women-fumble/) [Ebony magazine](https://www.ebony.com/op-ed-super-bowl-black-women-fumble/) was that Mary J. But certainly Rihanna and all the Black women who’ve preceded her would agree that greater racial and gender diversity is needed on the Super Bowl halftime stage, in the show’s production roles, at executive leadership tables where decisions are made about who the headliners will be in future years, among Recording Academy members, and in leadership roles all throughout their industry. [why Rihanna didn’t get paid](https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2023/02/10/why-rihanna-wont-get-paid-for-her-super-bowl-halftime-show/?sh=628799c45622) for her halftime performance – nor did Beyoncé, Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake, Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, and other A-list music megastars, she noted. Because Rihanna and other Black women work in an industry that is dominated by white executives and by men (few of whom are Black). Rihanna becomes the latest Black woman musician to perform on the world’s biggest stage.

Rihanna made her long-awaited return to the stage at the Super Bowl, but it was her baby bump that dominated the conversation.

"Wild Thoughts" "Run This Town" and, of course, "Umbrella" and "Diamonds" rounded out the show. "Rude Boy," "Bitch Better Have My Money," "Work" and "All of the Lights" were also on the setlist, as a sea of dancers performed stunning acrobatics. GLENDALE - Rihanna made her long-awaited return to the stage at the Super Bowl with a career-spanning medley of pop bangers, but it was her baby bump that dominated the conversation.

Pop and R&B superstar Rihanna performed hits from Umbrella to Diamonds as she wowed the Super Bowl halftime crowd at her first live performance in seven ...

The Super Bowl is the music industry's premiere showcase and has featured performers including Lady Gaga, Beyonce´, Prince, Madonna and the Rolling Stones. After the show concluded, Rihanna's representative confirmed the singer was pregnant. Rihanna's tight clothing suggested a baby bump and sparked off a wave of social media speculation.

Rihanna paid tribute to the late André Leon Talley with her dramatic red leather Alaïa coat during her Super Bowl 2023 halftime show performance.

Rihanna’s tribute made me teary.” Friends and fans of the two style stars applauded the sartorial salute in the comments, with stylist June Ambrose writing, “This was a beautiful tribute,” and writer Mara Brock Akil adding, “I knew it! said I’ll always be your friend.”

Rihanna performed hits like Umbrella, Only Girl, and We Found Love at Super Bowl LVII — all with a baby bump.

And then just like she entered the stadium, she planted herself on one of those death-defying platforms and ascended high above the field, powering through “ [Umbrella](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvBfHwUxHIk)” and “ [Diamonds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWA2pjMjpBs),” two of the biggest singles of her career. [Rude Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e82VE8UtW8A),” “ [Work](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HL1UzIK-flA),” and “ [Pour It Up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehcVomMexkY).” With the cameras up close, she cracked a wry smile here and flashed a squint there. [All of the Lights](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAfFfqiYLp0)” and “ [Run This Town](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztygmWtWCjQ),” solo, deigning to bring on collaborators Jay-Z and [Kanye West](https://www.vox.com/culture/23398795/kanye-west-ye-antisemitic-bigot-white-lives-matter-tucker-carlson-art-vs-artist) for what would have been quintessential Super Bowl cameos. As she transitioned to her final set of songs, one of the dancers handed her what seemed to be a Fenty compact (internet sleuths deduced it was her brand’s $34 [blotting powder](https://www.sephora.com/product/invisimatte-blotting-powder-P39784685)) and the makeup entrepreneur dusted her nose and undereyes. The dancers cleared. [ Rihanna’s reps confirmed she is pregnant](https://twitter.com/rollingstone/status/1624958333462405131?s=46&t=VdU_G3Di9GbVdPqTnB7N1A) with her second child after a speculative social media frenzy ( [that belly rub](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/amberjamieson/rihanna-pregnant-super-bowl-half-time-show) did mean something!). The direction and camera work were on point, with wide shots capturing the scale and grandeur of the floating stages. She is a hitmaker; it’s about the sound. This year, multiple platforms were suspended and lowered, lifted, and lowered again and again in synchronization with her run of songs; the set looked like a giant audio equalizer. Her voice is an engine that can take any song in any genre to the top of the charts. The next single, the next makeup drop, the next outfit: Rihanna is one of the few humans in this overexposed, over-curated world that people simply cannot get enough of. Rihanna doesn’t need more money, but whatever Rihanna wants, she gets, with millions of fans cheering her on.

She's pregnant and once again setting the rules for maternity fashion.

(Alaïa had a very good Super Bowl; Rihanna also wore a crocodile print skirt and a shearling leather jacket from the brand for her pregame news conference.) The calculation is that the potential payoff is worth the risk. (Also, yes, Valentine’s Day, but she generally thinks more globally than a Hallmark moment.) It painted a picture that could be read from the farthest reaches of the football arena. (Who knows how many?) Even Oscar nominees don’t have quite so many brands willing to gamble on the chance that a celebrity’s favor will fall on them. Or like some sort of avant-garde fertility goddess, drenched in a color with all sorts of potent associations related to the female body — especially the pregnant female body. [Rihanna’s style](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/07/style/rihanna-pregnancy-fashion.html) was largely defined by what she didn’t wear (anything that obscured her bump), in State Farm Stadium she was almost entirely covered up.

She's pregnant and once again setting the rules for maternity fashion.

(Alaïa had a very good Super Bowl; Rihanna also wore a crocodile print skirt and a shearling leather jacket from the brand for her pregame news conference.) The calculation is that the potential payoff is worth the risk. (Also, yes, Valentine’s Day, but she generally thinks more globally than a Hallmark moment.) It painted a picture that could be read from the farthest reaches of the football arena. (Who knows how many?) Even Oscar nominees don’t have quite so many brands willing to gamble on the chance that a celebrity’s favor will fall on them. [Rihanna’s style](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/07/style/rihanna-pregnancy-fashion.html) was largely defined by what she didn’t wear (anything that obscured her bump), in State Farm Stadium she was almost entirely covered up. Or like some sort of avant-garde fertility goddess, drenched in a color with all sorts of potent associations related to the female body — especially the pregnant female body.

Before her performance, the Grammy winner said she had first thought twice about taking the stage at the Super Bowl, but motherhood had ultimately inspired ...

As per People Magazine, Rihanna played up the big reveal in the opening moments of her performance, rubbing her stomach and leaving the zipper of her outfit – a jumpsuit layered over a close-fitting bodysuit and sculpted bandeau – down to reveal her belly. I might regret this,’” she said. “I was like: ‘You sure?

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky both rock bold styles together wherever they go – here's a peek at their shared love for fashion and the trends that they're setting ...

The megastar appeared in the stadium midair on a floating stage, donning a clingy, all-red ensemble featuring a molded bustier — and a belt below what many ...

“Wild Thoughts” “Run This Town” and, of course, “Umbrella” and “Diamonds” rounded out the show. “Rude Boy,” “Bitch Better Have My Money,” “Work” and “All of the Lights” were also on the setlist, as a sea of dancers performed stunning acrobatics. She delivered her club smashes including “Where Have You Been” to “Only Girl (In the World)” and the time-tested “We Found Love.”

But she didn't prove as big a draw as last year's Super Bowl halftime performers, led by Dr. Dre. Early numbers from Samba TV, a TV technology company that ...

Rihanna still drew substantially more viewers than the halftime performer two years ago, The Weeknd. “Rihanna’s star power has only continued to grow since her last tour and album release more than half a decade ago,” noted Samba TV founder and CEO Ashwin Navin. Early numbers from Samba TV, a TV technology company that provides real-time analytics, found that Rihanna’s audience was slightly smaller than last year. That’s up from 36.5 million the previous year. It appears to be up versus last year, with 36.7 million households viewing the contest between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. But she didn’t prove as big a draw as last year’s Super Bowl halftime performers, led by Dr.

Rihanna headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in a body-hugging red Loewe jumpsuit with matching Loewe bustier and Alaïa jacket. Fans speculated whether or ...

(We’ve also reached out to Rihanna’s team for comment and will update here when we hear back.) (By the way, A$AP Rocky was caught [recording some of his girlfriend’s performance](https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1624948494124601345) on his cell phone from the sidelines and it’s all very cute.) Rihanna didn’t explicitly announce that she’s pregnant during the set though, and the body-hugging red Loewe jumpsuit, paired with a matching Loewe bustier and [Alaïa jacket](https://twitter.com/VVFriedman/status/1624949449138098177) and MM6 Maison Margiela x Salomon Cross Low sneakers, made it a bit tough to tell for sure. [talked](https://www.thecut.com/2023/02/rihanna-work-life-balance-new-mom.html) about juggling new motherhood and her career, telling Apple Music’s Nadeska, “The balance is almost impossible. [her first child](https://www.thecut.com/2022/05/rihanna-reportedly-had-her-baby.html), a boy, with A$AP Rocky, in May of last year. The singer and beauty mogul hasn’t performed live in years, so the second “Bitch Better Have My Money” (the first of many hits she performed tonight) started blasting through that arena, fans/the world/probably Adele because she was in the audience naturally lost their shit. [Rihanna](https://www.thecut.com/2023/01/rihanna-super-bowl-halftime.html)’s Super Bowl Halftime performance was always going to overshadow any silly little game, super or not.

The singer gave much of her halftime show performance atop seven suspended platforms. It was all in the name of protecting the grass.

[Tifway 419 hybrid Bermuda grass](https://krturfgrass.com/product/tifway-419-bermuda/) on a tray that is [rolled outside](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzEXaeOORgc) into the sun during the week and rolled back under the stadium’s dome for game days (the dome also opens to give it light). (Some call this tool “the thumper”—and yes you can [imagine Dune](https://dune.fandom.com/wiki/Thumper#:~:text=A%20thumper%20is%20a%20short,last%20for%20approximately%20one%20hour.).) It does this by dropping a 2.25-kilogram hammer into the ground and returning a numerical measurement, called a Gmax, for how quickly it stops. It’s watered and mowed daily, and there’s a tool, the [Clegg Impact Tester](https://pioneerathletics.com/clegg-impact-tester), that checks its density to make sure it’s the safest possible surface for football. Preserving that field, says Phil Bogle, the NFL’s director of game operations, is the league’s main objective when it comes to the halftime show, “so that when the athletes get out there they can do their thing without any concern for field conditions.” [called upon the league](https://apnews.com/article/new-york-jets-carolina-panthers-nfl-sports-aaron-rodgers-1d22c7efbe62ff9d58d1df1a1f45ee47) to switch every field to grass, claiming it’s easier on their bodies. And while the LED-lit platforms, which were arranged in different positions as the singer moved through hits ranging from “Bitch Better Have My Money” to “Rude Boy,” looked cool as hell, they also served a very practical purpose: They kept her off the grass.

Donald Trump called Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime performance an “epic fail” after the former president also previously claimed the pop star would be ...

[Vogue](https://www.vogue.com/article/rihanna-cover-november-2019?utm_social-type=owned&mbid=social_twitter&utm_source=twitter&utm_brand=vogue&utm_medium=social&verso=true) the following year, she once again addressed The Apprentice star, specifically his response to the back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton which he claimed were the result of a “mental illness problem.” Rihanna told the magazine, “It is devastating. It’s completely racist.” She continued, “Put an Arab man with that same weapon in that same Walmart and there is no way that Trump would sit there and address it publicly as a mental health problem.” The pop star concluded, “The most mentally ill human being in America right now seems to be the president.” And the fact that it’s classified as something different because of the color of their skin? [revealed that she is pregnant with her second child](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/02/rihanna-confirms-shes-pregnant-after-2023-super-bowl) with boyfriend ASAP Rocky, should come as no surprise given that days before she even hit the stage at Arizona's State Farm Stadium Trump was already sharing his negative opinions about her. In a cover story for representative, who took issue with Rihanna being chosen for the Super Bowl due to her liberal politics.

Rolling out seven albums in eight years, Rihanna dominated pop, embracing emerging trends, serving big-tent bops in lean years for R&B singers, and doing songs ...

She held court dressed in blood red, surrounded by a swirl of dancers in white, soft-launching a new kid by hosting a kind of metaphysical conception to the tune of “Work” and “Wild Thoughts,” joining Beyoncé and Cardi B in their use of television to share the reveal, the latest in a lengthy succession of [women](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQKQEY6KDzE&t=117s) [giving](https://twitter.com/craigspoplife/status/1624961931202203649) [memorable](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8beae) [performances](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhdTAwkDu1Q) [while](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxRNtNpJPVw) [pregnant](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5JjcJAg_P0). [Beyoncé stunted so hard ](https://youtu.be/SDPITj1wlkg?t=89)that we often forget she wasn’t the headliner, or Michael Jackson’s memorable [two-minute statue pose](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsopN7JKUVs) from 1993, or the flawless 1991 [“Star-Spangled Banner”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAYKTMQl7MQ) from Whitney Houston. [Coldplay](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Uw6ZkbsAH8) to [Jeezy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xcwd_Nz6Zog). You either know buddy can sing the soul loose from your body, or [you fuck around and find out](https://youtu.be/V-FYmUIvE10?t=197).) What Rihanna’s Super Bowl show did expertly communicate is that she is a tenacious self-starter who played the fame game so well that she made it from a [bungalow](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLeGYlx5pSQ) to a [billion](https://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2021/08/04/fentys-fortune-rihanna-is-now-officially-a-billionaire/?sh=3dda38eb7c96) in less than 20 years, and her singles still slam, and we could probably stop asking after R9 for a little while. The usual suspects — “We Found Love,” “Only Girl (In the World),” “Diamonds,” “Umbrella” — made their expected appearances, but opening that show with “Bitch Better Have My Money” was bold, and leaving ballads like “Take a Bow” and “Stay” at home in favor of the raunchier “Rude Boy” and “Pour It Up” gave the spectacle a faintly reckless air that counterbalanced the hard-fought seamlessness displayed as the star was shuttled onto and off of the moving platform, which resembled the Battlefield level from Super Smash Bros. [Simpler time](https://www.vulture.com/2022/12/kanye-west-dropped-brands-adidas-gap-what-did-ye-say.html).) [almost 40 drafts](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rihanna-super-bowl-press-conference-halftime-show-1234676685/) of the set list in the planning stages, and throughout the 13-song medley, there was the sense she could’ve played 20 more hits. Four medleys showcased her casual excellence in [singing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hqpw9dtKChg) [across](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9Ygppti7YI) [genres](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUyEZzFyz9U), in the process tracing her evolution from teenage sensation to dance-music icon at ease in the listless sequence of psych-rock jams, soul songs, and ballads heard on the same year’s Anti. [naysayers](https://twitter.com/rihanna/status/203576093385568256). It’s a testament to the Barbadian icon’s mettle, to a career dedicated to making the difficult look doable, that all of this intrigue could be stuffed into a confident, relaxed performance that saw the singer float in the air on a suspended platform while barreling through songs from various corners of her expansive catalogue. 2005’s “Pon de Replay” was our first sampling of the voice, a delicate but raspy thing blessed with a formidable vibrato and a depth of range that snuck up on us when she trotted effortlessly across the high notes in 2006’s “Tainted Love” flip “S.O.S.” and 2007’s New Order interpolation [Rihanna](https://www.vulture.com/tags/rihanna/) perform on television or anywhere else was at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony, where she was named Video Vanguard.

In forcing her audience to confront her physical reality, the pop star took ownership of her body – and she did it in real time, says Morwenna Ferrier, ...

It became the most liked photograph on Instagram in 2017, with more than 10m likes (she revealed her first pregnancy on stage in 2011 at the MTV Video Music Awards, but no one really remembers that). The image became a blueprint for magazines, sending an empowering message in an era otherwise ridden with repressed corporeal ideals, but that didn’t stop some shops from banning it at the time. In terms of the reveal, I simply posted a headless mirror shot on Instagram in which I gently lifted my tracksuit to show a tiny bump. In 2017, Leibovitz [rehashed the concept](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/photos/2017/06/serena-williams-cover-story) with Serena Williams, an image that feels all the more powerful now, because Williams almost died after an emergency C-section from that pregnancy. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? Doing it on a public stage, as Rihanna did, was not only bold. The celebrity pregnancy reveal is, of course, more public – and it has a short, but storied tradition. But the image of the pregnant pop star, cradling her belly in a red silk Loewe catsuit as she descended from the heavens on a Perspex box, is surely up there with the greatest pregnancy reveals of the Instagram age. In forcing her audience to confront her physical reality, Rihanna went past making a fashion statement. During my pregnancy, I wore clothes that rearranged themselves around my changing shape: jeans with elasticated waistbands from Topshop, a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress given to me by a colleague and various billowing dresses in plissé fabrics from Asos, which I gave to a charity shop as soon as I was able to walk again. She took ownership of her body, and she did it in real time. The Daily Mail called her “shameless”.

Rihanna delivered her first baby in May. On Sunday, she revealed she's pregnant again. Back-to-back pregnancies can increase risks like preterm labor.

That's unusual, however, since [healthcare providers often recommend](https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/labor-and-delivery/in-depth/sex-after-pregnancy/art-20045669#:~:text=While%20there's%20no%20required%20waiting,first%20two%20weeks%20after%20delivery.) waiting four to six weeks after birth to have sex in order to let the body heal — even after a C-section. "This also leads to improved health outcomes for the infant." For birth-control pills containing estrogen, doctors recommend waiting one month after giving birth to get started to Some research suggests at least two years of spacing is optimal, Shepherd told Insider. [Richards said](https://www.romper.com/p/is-having-irish-twins-safe-experts-explain-the-health-concerns-for-mom-baby-27622504). [reduce the risk of blood clots](https://www.insider.com/blood-clots-link-birth-control-unusual-but-real-serious-risk-2021-4), [according to the Mayo Clinic](https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/labor-and-delivery/in-depth/sex-after-pregnancy/art-20045669#:~:text=While%20there's%20no%20required%20waiting,first%20two%20weeks%20after%20delivery.). [Alexandria Richards,](https://www.bswhealth.com/resident/alexandria-richards) an OB-GYN in College Station, Texas, [told the outlet](https://www.romper.com/p/is-having-irish-twins-safe-experts-explain-the-health-concerns-for-mom-baby-27622504). [told Romper](https://www.romper.com/p/is-having-irish-twins-safe-experts-explain-the-health-concerns-for-mom-baby-27622504). And while it's possible to get pregnant within weeks of birth, [What to Expect reports](https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/labor-and-delivery/in-depth/sex-after-pregnancy/art-20045669#:~:text=While%20there's%20no%20required%20waiting,first%20two%20weeks%20after%20delivery.). [UK's National Health Service](https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/support-and-services/sex-and-contraception-after-birth/#:~:text=You%20can%20get%20pregnant%20as,birth%2C%20including%20the%20first%20time.). [according to What to Expect](https://www.whattoexpect.com/pregnancy/pregnancy-health/how-soon-can-you-get-pregnant-after-giving-birth/#:~:text=on%20your%20terms.-,How%20soon%20can%20you%20get%20pregnant%20after%20giving%20birth%3F,re%20breastfeeding%20exclusively%20or%20not.), national medical associations recommend [waiting at least six months](https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/obstetric-care-consensus/articles/2019/01/interpregnancy-care#:~:text=Women%20should%20be%20advised%20to,pregnancy%20sooner%20than%2018%20months.) between pregnancies due to some increased risks.