Only Rihanna could take a six-year hiatus from releasing music just to mark her return by headlining the Super Bowl halftime show. No matter the era, RiRi has always been an undeniable force on stage. If you need a refresher, here are some of her most bad gal moments on tour.
To this day, Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad era is such a vibe. This circa saw her embracing her unapologetic-meets-badass persona. Sonically, this new (and now signature) version of Rihanna was edgier and sultrier, and that aura showed in her 2007 GGGB tour.
According to Buzzfeed, the GGGB tour was Rihanna’s first world tour and saw her performing 80 shows across Canada, North America, Europe, and Asia. These shows acted as a glimmering wink in her road to stardom, and importantly, had everyone *obsessed* with her asymmetrical bob.
Rihanna’s reign continued on her 2010 Last Girl On Earth tour, which supported her Rated R album. You know, the gem that gave the world “Rude Boy” and “Rockstar 101” in the same year.
This tour hit the nail on embodying rockstar RiRi with its grungier, almost rebellious aesthetics. She also traded her sleek bob for a shorter cut, which bounced between honey-blonde and fire-red hues. Come to think of it, this red look teased her next iconic era: Loud.
Loud is arguably Rihanna’s most vibrant and sonically dramatic album. That style of pop makes for campy performances, and that’s exactly what she delivered on her 2011 tour.
The tour, which spanned ran from June to December 2011, saw Rihanna in the loudest ‘fits — literally. With her red curls on display, the singer normally danced across stage in a diamond two-piece when not twirling in a purple ball.
Rihanna was really in her bad gal bag for this album. Three days before Unapologetic dropped on Nov. 19, 2012, the singer went on a seven-day, seven-country tour to promote the album, per People. What’s wild is she infamously traveled with journalists and fans on a Boeing 777.
Rihanna kept the stage aesthetics minimal on this tour. However, she made up for that thematic absence with her charisma and iconic setlist, which teased bops from Unapologetic like “Cockiness (Love It)” and “Phresh Out The Runaway.”
Rihanna then gave Unapologetic the full tour treatment on her 2013 Diamonds World Tour. Everything about this era is so iconic, from her half-shaven head to her bringing on her future beau A$AP Rocky for the North American slate of shows.
At the time, no one thought Anti would be Rihanna’s last album and tour for a while. In recent years, she’s dubbed this release as her “best album” (who doesn’t love an artist that’s aware of their talents) and even celebrated Anti’s five-year stint on the Billboard 200.
RiRi pulled all the big stops on this 2015 tour, which included appearances from Travis Scott, The Weeknd, and Big Sean, per Rolling Stone. OK, if her guest roster (if there’s any) for her Super Bowl halftime performance is as explosive as this one? That would be legendary.