Rihanna Worked Through 39 Setlists To Get To Her Final Halftime Performance

Thirteen minutes. Thirteen minutes to condense hours worth of material into the show of a lifetime. That’s the challenge in front of Rihanna as she preps for this Sunday’s Super Bowl Halftime show. RiRi sat down during an Apple Music press conference to explain just what goes on behind the scenes while getting ready for a show seen by billions around the world.

Rihanna says that since her own reputation is on the line to deliver, she’s not afraid to take charge, from positioning band members on stage to the set list itself – a set list that she admits has gone through 39 different versions – and we’re still days away from the final product. She did say that letting the world see what immigrants, women of color, can accomplish is a big part of what she’s trying to put on stage.

The results of all this prep work and practice will be revealed Sunday at halftime – and coming back from several years of not being on stage, the challenge is huge and the expectations are high.