USA TODAY International Edition
Who is on Rhianna’s Super guest list?
People love a special guest with their Super Bowl halftime show. ● What would Coldplay at Super Bowl 50 have been without Bruno Mars and Beyoncé? Certainly not the third- most- viewed performance in the history of the game, pulling in 110 million views on YouTube. ● This brings us to Rihanna, the multiplatinum superstar who’s headlining Super Bowl 57’ s halftime show Feb. 12. ● “Twelve minutes? You could actually do that by yourself, but it’s one of those things where you can decorate it however you want,” she told E! “I don’t know what I’m gonna do yet. It’s gonna be great either way.” If she does decide to decorate with her famous friends, here are the likely contenders. ●
1. Jay- Z for ‘ Umbrella’
Jay- Z’s Roc Nation label and entertainment firm partnered with the NFL in 2019 to select entertainers to work with the league, so he’s already knee- deep in the Super Bowl.
He’s even in the news release the NFL sent out, touting the woman he signed to Def Jam all those years ago as “a generational talent” and “a woman of humble beginnings who has surpassed expectations at every turn.”
So why not join her on the big day, revisiting his guest rap on “Umbrella”?
It remains one of her biggest hits, an eight- times- platinum classic with one of the catchier choruses to top the charts this century and recently reached its 1 billionth stream on Spotify.
2. Drake for ‘ Work’
Speaking of a billion streams on Spotify, Rihanna’s Drake collab has been there, done that.
A haunting dancehall ballad with a minimalist groove, a steamy chorus for the ages and absolutely brilliant chemistry between the two, it spent nine weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 on its way to going platinum eight times.
3. Shakira for ‘ Can’t Remember to Forget You’
This isn’t nearly as big a record as the others, but Shakira’s halftime show with J. Lo is, by far, the most- viewed halftime show on YouTube with more than 254 million viewers.
Billboard has a running poll where you can vote on who Rihanna’s guests should be. Shakira already is doing a victory dance in the end zone with 47% of the vote.
It also has the most contagious, almost ska- like rhythm to it with an energy you’d be hard- pressed to top.
Unless you went with ...
4. Calvin Harris for ‘ We Found Love’
Among the questions someone needs to answer? How is Calvin Harris not an option on that Billboard poll?
This nine- times- platinum electro- banger spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100.
It’s the perfect way to bring the whole thing to the most exhilarating finish.
Is it all a bit too EDM for viewers of a certain age? Of course it is. But they were going to whine regardless. She could bring a Beatle out and they’d still find some reason to complain.
Which brings me to my last suggestion.
5. Paul McCartney for ‘ FourFiveSeconds’
If you can bring a Beatle to the Super Bowl, by all means, bring a Beatle to the Super Bowl.
Here’s the trouble with McCartney, though. This single also features Kanye West, who’s persona non grata in most circles at the moment – Adidas, the Gap, Balenciaga and Creative Artists Agency all cut ties with him in the aftermath of recent inflammatory behavior running afoul of the Anti- Defamation League.
But they could always do the song without him, just the opening with Beatle Paul on acoustic and Rihanna on vocals.