Musician and entrepreneur Rihanna attends an event for her lingerie line Savage X Fenty at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles on on Aug. 28, 2021. Associated Press file
LOS ANGELES — Super Bowl LVI halftime show headliner and self-proclaimed Rihanna “super-fan” Dr. Dre “can’t wait to see” what the “Umbrella” artist has in store for next year’s event.
During a radio interview Sunday with Apple Music 1, the “Next Episode” rapper offered some advice to Rihanna, who had just been tapped to headline the Super Bowl LVII halftime show.
“Put the right people around you, and have fun,” Dre said, according to People magazine.
“That’s basically what it is, making sure you have the right creative people around you,” he added. “She might want to look into some of the people that we used to do our show.”
This year’s crowd-pleasing halftime program at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium doubled as an electrifying homage to hip-hop and Los Angeles led by Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige and Kendrick Lamar.
Amid fervent speculation, the National Football League, Apple Music and Roc Nation announced Sunday that “generational talent” and “cultural force” Rihanna is set to headline the 2023 halftime show.
“I just like (Rihanna) and what she does, and her get-down, and how she approaches her artistry and the whole nine. It’s fantastic,” Dre told Apple Music 1.
Dr. Dre Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, file
“She has the opportunity to really blow us away. I know we set the bar extremely high.”
Dre was far from the only famous Rihanna fan to celebrate Sunday’s programming announcement. On social media, several major artists – including Lizzo, Katy Perry and Justin Bieber — reacted enthusiastically to the news.
“Screaming,” Lizzo commented on Rihanna’s Instagram post confirming her involvement.
“Hell yeah,” wrote Perry.
“The queen is back,” added Bieber.
According to Pitchfork, the 2023 halftime show will mark Rihanna’s first public performance in five years. The Grammy-winning singer has been on a musical hiatus since releasing her last studio album, “Anti,” in 2016 while she continues to build her Fenty business empire.
“rihanna for halftime ?? yasss,” tweeted Halle Bailey, singer and star of Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid.”
“rihanna!! super bowl?!?! ahhh,” echoed Halle Bailey’s sister and musical partner, Chlöe Bailey.
In 2019, Rihanna confirmed to Vogue that she “absolutely” declined a previous offer to headline the Super Bowl halftime show because of how the NFL treated quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick.
“I couldn’t dare do that. For what? Who gains from that? Not my people,” she told the fashion magazine.
“I just couldn’t be a sellout. I couldn’t be an enabler. There’s things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way.”
The Times has reached out to Rihanna’s reps for clarification on why she decided to accept the gig this time around. The 2023 Super Bowl will take place Feb. 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
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