Rihanna’s upcoming Super Bowl performance is already so iconic it has a wax figure
Rihanna hasn’t even performed at the Super Bowl yet, and her halftime show look has already inspired a wax figure.
On Tuesday, Madame Tussauds announced two new wax figures of the singer and business mogul — just in time for Sunday’s big game. The statues will feature Rihanna’s showstopping ensemble from the 2018 Met Gala and a yet-to-be-revealed costume from her highly anticipated halftime performance.
The first figure — now on display at Madame Tussauds New York in Times Square — is based on Rihanna’s 2018 Met Gala outfit: a pearl-and jewel-embellished, seafoam and silver Maison Margiela Artisanal bustier minidress, jacket and open skirt ensemble complete with a bishop’s mitre. The statue also features Rihanna’s statement jewelry and diamond-encrusted manicure from the event, which advertised a religious “Sunday Best” dress code.
“Sunday best” was how the dress code was described for the 2018 Met Gala, which celebrated the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibition, “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”
“Rihanna is sure to make history with her upcoming live show this Sunday so the timing is perfect for us to reveal her new figure exclusively at Madame Tussauds New York where fans can admire and pose with the icon,” Joerg Hanel, general manager of Madame Tussauds New York, said in a statement.
Later this year, Madame Tussauds Orlando is set to debut a wax figure wearing the “Umbrella” hitmaker’s Super Bowl outfit. Fans will, of course, get a better idea of what that statue will look like on Sunday.
In September, the National Football League and Roc Nation named Rihanna as the headliner for the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show. The influential musician, who hasn’t released an album since 2016, will deliver her first public performance in five years during Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
“Rihanna is a generational talent, a woman of humble beginnings who has surpassed expectations at every turn,” Roc Nation founder Jay-Z said last year in a statement when the halftime lineup was announced. “A person born on the small island of Barbados who became one of the most prominent artists ever. Self-made in business and entertainment.”
In a recent interview with Apple Music, Rihanna reflected on her journey preparing for the Super Bowl after welcoming her first child with partner ASAP Rocky last spring.
Rihanna tweeted a photo of a football on Sunday, and Roc Nation has confirmed her participation in next year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
“When I first got the call to do [the Super Bowl] again this year, I was like, ‘Psst, you sure?’ I’m three months postpartum, like, should I be making major decisions like this now? Like, I might regret this,” she told Apple Music.
“But when you become a mom, there’s something that just happens where you feel like you could take on the world, you could do anything. And the Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world. So as scary as that was because I haven’t been onstage in seven years, there’s something exhilarating about the challenge of it all. 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.”
Times staff writer Adam Tschorn contributed to this report.
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