Rihanna’s last public performance was the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show on February 12, 2023. Entering the show, people desperately hoped that Rihanna would announce a forthcoming album or tour — or something — during the show. Instead, she revealed her second pregnancy and has not announced any follow-up to 2016’s ANTI. (Although ASAP Rocky had a lukewarm update in February.)
Consolation prize? As per The Associated Press, Rihanna was booked to perform at a celebration for the wedding of the son to “billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani,” which boasted a “nearly 1,200-person guest list,” including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. That news alone does not connote a consolation prize because what good is a private Rihanna performance to her millions (or billions?) of fans who cannot attend? However, videos from the performance are circulating on X (formerly Twitter), making it a de facto semi-public Rihanna concert.
Complex posted aggregated videos of Rihanna singing “B*tch Better Have My Money” and dancing confidently during “Work.” while other accounts are circulating videos of Rihanna singing “Umbrella” and “Pour It Up.” Her vocals are flawless, but the choreography alone is enough to cause severe FOMO.
Rihanna performing at a wedding in India.
pic.twitter.com/Oz957TnkfX— Complex (@Complex) March 1, 2024
Rihanna performing “Work” in India tonight https://t.co/i3SUdiCrzs
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) March 1, 2024
RIHANNA’S FIRST TIME SINGING OH BABY IT’S RAINING PART IN 15 YEARS?!???? pic.twitter.com/B1Q0ztF0oX
— exhaustations (@exhaustations) March 1, 2024
RIHANNA MY GOD pic.twitter.com/CVXlsIKSjI
— RIHPRINT (@yourfavesidol1) March 1, 2024
Rihanna always looks so happy when she performs Diamonds pic.twitter.com/i0IkDoOpDM
— Jay Jay (@holynoapostle) March 1, 2024
Rihanna singing “Stay” in India tonight. https://t.co/DnI7i2aL8i
— FentyStats (@FentyStats) March 1, 2024
Rihanna currently performing in India right now and my sista always gonna fck that “mhmm” part no matter what pic.twitter.com/TPx1jbnIWv
— NATE (@NATERERUN) March 1, 2024
Rihanna’s speech during her ambani pre wedding festival performance in India pic.twitter.com/TZifOMvT2a
— Mus | STILL WAITING FOR R9 (@iammumus) March 1, 2024
As per Variety, “The concert, held in the family’s hometown of Jamnagar in India, was the first night of a three-day event to celebrate the wedding — which isn’t set to happen until later this summer — of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant.”
In December, Rihanna gave fans hope that new music and a tour will happen at some unspecified point in the future.
“Well, we were always gonna go back on tour,” Rihanna told Entertainment Tonight when asked if another tour could be happening soon. “I feel I want to do a tour when there’s new music, right? We already know what that’s gonna be, with the songs that I’ve performed my last tour. That was a long time ago. I feel like it’s only fair that my fans get what they’ve been waiting on, which is new music. And after that, let’s just, like, blow everything up.”