Fans across social media have applauded Rihanna for not bringing out special guest performers during her halftime show on Sunday evening's Super Bowl.
The nail-biting game saw the Philadelphia Eagles go head-to-head against the Kansas City Chiefs, with both teams eyeing off the Lombardi Trophy.
While the Eagles were the experts' favorite to win according to ESPN, the Chiefs won the championship with a final score of 38-35.
Rihanna ultimately dominated the headlines with her standout halftime performance - squeezing in 18 years' worth of hits in 13 thrilling minutes.
Rihanna put on a spectacular show! Check out a snippet of it below:The 34-year-old singer sported a PVC bustier with a red unitard underneath, complete with a red jumpsuit that was unzipped to reveal her small baby bump, which she cradled several times throughout the performance. She completed her look with a custom Loewe and Alaïa down for her finale track 'Diamonds' - and Twitter is in meltdown over it all.
In less than 15 minutes RiRi sang several of her biggest hits - including 'Umbrella' (minus Tom Holland), 'B***h Better Have My Money', 'Work', 'Rude Boy', 'Pour It Up', 'Where Have You Been', 'Only Girl (In The World)', and 'Wild Thoughts'.
Unlike last year - which saw Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and 50 Cent perform - Rihanna chose to do the gig solo, even as she performed songs that had originally featured Kanye West, Jay-Z, Drake, and Kid Cudi. And her fans were here for it.
Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone tweeted that Rihanna had "won" this weekend's Super Bowl game, writing: "Rihanna won the Super Bowl. And unlike the game, her halftime show had an actual climax. Absolutely solo, absolutely pregnant, absolutely in charge, absolutely RiRi."
"Rihanna and Lady Gaga are the only artists who did the [Super Bowl] halftime show solo with no guests… ICONS," another user added, referencing Lady Gaga's Super Bowl show in 2017.
Another user praised Rihanna for performing solo while also subtly advertising her Fenty Beauty brand, as she appeared to grab a Fenty compact mirror to "touch up" her makeup on stage. "Rihanna did the Super Bowl SOLO while pregnant, and did a product placement for her billion dollar brand! Yeah no one talk to me," they tweeted.
A further user added that this year's Super Bowl celebrated women in the best ways - having an all-female flyover as well as Rihanna performing solo. "Super Bowl 57 highlighted and celebrated women [...] All female Air Force flyover [...] The halftime solo performance [...] Rihanna showed the world that women are strong, confident and unstoppable," their tweet read.
Prior to taking on the job of performing at halftime, Rihanna told The Hollywood Reporter that she wasn't sure if she was ready, especially given that she'd been offered the gig just three months after giving birth to her first child. "I was like, 'You sure? I'm three months postpartum. Should I be making major decisions like this right now? I might regret this,'" she told the outlet.
"When you become a mom, there's something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world - you can do anything," she added. "And the Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world, so as scary as that was … there's something exhilarating about the challenge of it all. It's important for my son to see that."
What did you think of bad gal RiRi's halftime performance? Let us know in the comments!
