Super Bowl 2023: Rihanna finds work-life balance ‘impossible’ but half time show is ‘important’ for son to see

While Rihanna sang about putting in the ‘Work’ in her 2016 hit, the Barbadian singer is showing that she is fully committed to getting back on the stage after giving birth to her son last year.

Rihanna gave birth to her first child in May 2022, who she shares with A$AP Rocky, and within three months she had agreed to perform at the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show, for her first performance on stage in years.

The last time Rihanna performed was during the 2018 Grammys where she sang ‘Wild Thoughts’ with DJ Khaled and has since gone on to business ventures with Savage x Fenty, movie cameos and become a mother.

Ahead of the Super Bowl on Sunday, Rihanna explained that although finding work-life balance in a post-partum world is ‘impossible’, some opportunities to return to the stage are too good to be true.

Rihanna said: “The balance is almost impossible, because no matter how you look at it, work is always something that’s going to rob you of time with your child…When you make decisions on what you’re going to say yes to, it has to be worth it.”

However, the 34-year-old continued that when you become a parent, you feel like ‘you could take on the world’ and her impending return to the stage was both scary but exhilarating.

“And it’s important for me to do this, this year. It’s important for representation, it’s important for my son to see that,” she added.

Therefore while the 2022 Super Bowl was seen by nearly 100 million people and with Rihanna’s first performance in five years set to bring further audience members, she will sing her heart out for her nine-month-old son.

Rihanna is not the first singer who has found coming back to work tricky, but a necessity when it comes to what stage they will perform on.

Beyonce allegedly started her Coachella rehearsals just two months after giving birth to her twins Rumi and Sir in June 2017, and took on 11-hour days to get ready for her history-making performance.

The Grammy Award winner spoke of her work-life balance in her Netflix documentary, Homecoming saying: “In the beginning, it was so many muscle spasms and, just internally, my body was not connected. My mind was not there. My mind wanted to be with my children. What people don’t see is the sacrifice.”

“Just trying to figure out how to balance being a mother of a 6-year-old and of twins that need me, and giving myself creatively and physically. It was a lot to juggle.”

However, eight months later, Beyoncé took to the stage with a marching band, Destiny’s Child and stellar outfit changes.

Another performer who ‘No Doubt’ returned to the stage within a year of giving birth was Gwen Stefani, who 11 months after bringing her now 14-year-old son Zuma Nesta Rock to this world, joined forces with her old band for a performance in Los Angeles.

Gwen joined guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young for their summer reunion tour in 2009 in the Gibson Amphitheatre, and showed off her amazing post-partum body.