Rihanna’s 1st Full Concert in Nearly a Decade Was for a Bunch of Billionaires

It’s been nearly eight years since Rihanna ended her Anti World Tour in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on November 27, 2016. But she finally came out of her semi-retirement, performance sabbatical, full Fenty pivot, whatever you wanna call it, to give her very first full-length concert in nearly a decade. If you’re mad that you didn’t see tickets go on sale it’s because there were none. To get into this concert, you needed to either be a billionaire or be friends with the billionaire groom or multi-millionaire bride.

On Friday night, Rihanna performed in Jamnagar, India at the pre-wedding bash for Anant Ambani and his fiancé, Radhika Merchant—Ambani is the son of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in Asia. Merchant is also from a super-wealthy family, though only multi-millionaire wealthy, not the richest person on an entire continent wealthy. Over 1,200 people were invited, including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Ivanka Trump.

And, since these are billionaires and multi-millionaires, a pre-wedding bash does not mean a lavish party the night before the wedding (or even a couple of nights before). Actually, the wedding is in July, this was just a three-day long celebration ahead of it, named the “romance festival.”

But back to Rihanna, who apparently got $6 million for the gig, according to the Daily Mail. (In 2018, Beyoncé performed at Isha Ambani’s, Anant’s sister, wedding and reportedly was paid nearly $5 million.) Rihanna’s 19-song set list included “We Found Love,” “Stay,” “All of the Lights,” “Work,” and “Diamonds,” according to NME. “I’m here tonight in honor of Anant and Radhika, thank you for having me here. God bless your union, I wish you all the best, congratulations,” Rihanna said. “How many of you believe in love? Make some noise for love right now.”

Much like her Super Bowl LVII halftime show, Rihanna’s performance garnered some mixed reviews online, with some on social media calling her out for a low-energy, lackluster performance while others defended her, saying this is how she’s always performed live. Personally, at this point, I’d pay to watch Rihanna whisper “We Found Love” from her couch…which is a free idea for her team.

she just don’t give a fuck 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/cV5EqlEsiI

— ✯ (@crispypunxni) March 1, 2024

She always performed like this live lol https://t.co/98X7MmDdOy

— Ashley Reese (@offbeatorbit) March 2, 2024

Regardless, Rihanna seemed to have fun. “The show was the best. I haven’t done a real show in eight years,” she told reporters after the performance. Would be cool if you wanted to do another show, Rihanna! Or release your 10th studio album? I don’t know, just a couple of wild, wild thoughts…

• Joe Jonas and Stormi Bree were photographed making out down under. But where are his children?! [Page Six]
• Queen Camilla is the latest royal to take a step back from the spotlight. Curious! [People]
• Miley Cyrus apparently had “no idea” about the drama between her sister, her mom, and her mom’s new husband. [People]
• Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson are very (very) distant cousins. [Today]
• OK, Kacey Musgraves did not suffer a “wardrobe malfunction” on Saturday Night Live. She just left a clip in her hair… [Daily Mail]