Rihanna gives rare live performance during Jay-Z’s Yankee Stadium concert

Rihanna returned to the stage on Sunday night, making a surprise appearance during the final show of Jay-Z‘s Extra Innings concert series at New York’s Yankee Stadium.

The pop superstar emerged midway through the set to perform ‘B***h Better Have My Money’ before joining Jay-Z for ‘Run This Town’, the pair’s 2009 collaboration. It marked Rihanna’s latest live appearance after stepping back from music to focus on her family and her Fenty business empire.

Rihanna has performed only sparingly over the past decade. Her last full concert tour, the Anti World Tour, concluded in November 2016 after supporting her eighth studio album of the same name.

When did Rihanna last perform live?

Since then, she has made just a handful of high-profile live appearances, including the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show, where she revealed she was expecting her second child, and her performance of Oscar-nominated ballad ‘Lift Me Up’ at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Despite years of speculation surrounding Anti‘s follow-up – dubbed ‘R9’ by fans – Rihanna has yet to release a ninth studio album. In the years since, she has instead released standalone songs including ‘Lift Me Up’ and ‘Born Again’ for the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.

The surprise collaboration rounded off Jay-Z’s three-night Yankee Stadium residency.

Its opening night honoured the 30th anniversary of Reasonable Doubt with appearances from Beyoncé, Blue Ivy Carter, Nas and Alicia Keys, while the second celebrated the 25th anniversary of The Blueprint and featured Eminem and Pharrell.

When did Rihanna and Jay-Z first meet?

Rihanna and Jay-Z’s relationship stretches back to 2005, when Jay-Z signed the then-17-year-old Rihanna to Def Jam Recordings shortly after becoming the label’s president.

Since then they have collaborated on ‘Umbrella’ and ‘Talk That Talk’, as well as ‘Run This Town’.