Rihanna Reportedly Plotting New Album & Arena Tour Following Super Bowl Performance

Rihanna‘s forthcoming Super Bowl performance has reportedly put her on track to release new music, with talks of a tour also being a possibility.

The singer has not released any new music as a solo artist since her multi-platinum 2016 album Anti, sparking an ongoing outcry for new material by fans on social media. Even as a featured artist, RiRi’s last appearance was on PartyNextDoor’s “Believe It” in 2020.

According to HitsDailyDouble, Rihanna, who was spotted heading to a recording session shortly after the Super Bowl LVII announcement, is among several high-profile artists believed to be headed out on tour in 2023.

“Look for the Harry Styles-style ‘traveling residency’ to be part of the plan,” the outlet said. “Set up camp at the presidential suite in the Peninsula Hotel in NYC, do your 10-15 arena shows along with a possible stadium date, lather, rinse and repeat in other major markets. Artists and their reps love this arrangement for its much lower overhead — far fewer load-ins and teardowns, drastically reduced travel costs, etc. — and infinitely greater simplicity.”

The report also states that, beyond new music and shows, fans should anticipate the Fenty Beauty mogul to make another major announcement after her appearance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Despite the absence of new music, Rihanna has done plenty to remain in the public eye since her last full length project. Months following the release of Anti, she launched Fenty Beauty in partnership with LVMH in a deal reportedly worth $10 million.

In August 2021, the “Wild Thoughts” singer officially became a billionaire, with the bulk of her personal fortune coming from the cosmetics line, through which Forbes reports she’s made $1.4 billion dollars. Rihanna made an additional $270 million from her Savage X Fenty lingerie line.

Her music has also continued to garner new attention. Just weeks after delivering her first child with A$AP Rocky, the RIAA updated the certification status for four of Rihanna’s singles. With “Umbrella” becoming 8x platinum, “Disturbia” hitting the 7x platinum mark and “Take A Bow” and “Don’t Stop The Music” each hitting six million copies sold in the U.S., she has amassed more digital sales than any other female artist in the U.S. (via That Grape Juice).

The updated certifications placed her in third place overall, behind Eminem and Drake — who this week became the most streamed artist on Spotify.

While she’s mostly avoided making statements about upcoming releases, in April, the Bajan superstar told Vogue that music was “still very much part of the program.”

“I’m looking at my next project completely differently from the way I had wanted to put it out before. I think this way suits me better, a lot better,” she said at the time. “It’s authentic, it’ll be fun for me, and it takes a lot of the pressure off.”