Stevie G: Celebrating a long history of music and sports
Rihanna is set to perform her first proper live show in years at next February’s Super Bowl half-time show.
Rihanna is the perfect choice for the half-time show, and she has one of the best catalogues in pop music. For many music fans like myself, it’s a good reason to watch the Super Bowl, and the half-time show is often legendary. Rumoured to be originally offered to Taylor Swift, this coveted slot will be perfect for Rihanna, who will surely follow it with an album in 2023.
She has spent most of her 30s away from music, instead concentrating on business interests that include her Fenty fashion brand, and she has recently become a mother for the first time.
This time away from music was undoubtedly needed, and she really doesn’t owe us any apologies. Her career so far has been packed with hits, and the prolific singer from Barbados barely let up between 2003 and 2017. During that time she became one of the most iconic pop stars of her generation and at the Super Bowl her biggest challenge will be picking the tunes for what is likely to be a short snapshot of her career so far!
It’s another indicator of how R&B and hip-hop dominate the pop world these days, and it comes 12 months after Dr Dre took to the stage, with Mary J Blige, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem. In recent years Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, The Weekend, Bruno Mars, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce have headlined this prestigious show. Sports events and music don’t always mix well but it is one thing that the Americans do fairly spectacularly lots of the time.
As global TV money becomes the main goal for many sports, in Europe there have been lots of attempts to follow suit. The lack of interest in Camila Cabello’s performance before this year’s Champions League final shows that Europe still has a long way to go though, and us football fans probably have a more cynical view on it all. It was a fairly shambolic final as a whole from an organisational perspective, but football is a sport that is very much steeped in tradition, and many football fans will resist any attempts to Americanise things too much. That said, things are changing and more razzmatazz seems inevitable really.
The already controversially awarded forthcoming World Cup in Qatar shows that the money continues to win, and I’m sure every global super brand will be fighting hard to be front and centre for November’s competition, which will be watched by most people on the planet. Music stars will almost certainly be getting the call, but the likelihood of great music is less certain. A really dodgy Tears for Fears sampling track by Lil Baby has just come out as the official World Cup anthem, and it doesn’t make any sense really. It’s certainly no “Put them under Pressure”!
But sport and music will continue to be bedfellows. Most of the biggest touring acts will depend on sports stadiums for their biggest shows and the revenues generated will help pay for these huge expenses. It’s happening in Cork and Dublin and it happens in London, Paris and all across the world. Ultimately, everybody in both industries win as the stadia themselves host massive shows.
In Cork we’ve had iconic gigs by Michael Jackson, Prince, U2 and most recently, popular shows by Elton John, Westlife and Ed Sheeran, while a certain country rock star just took over Dublin for a few weeks too. Beyonce is back on tour next year, and it would be amazing to have her do dates in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, though I presume Croke Park will be more viable and realistic.
At grassroots level it’s hard to find music venues and sports clubs often help fill the gap. Venues such as Highfield Rugby Club and St Finbarr’s GAA Club have held everything from afro to latin events in the last few years, while Independent Park hosts shows too.
Local GAA clubs generally offer youngsters their first taste of nightlife in the form of teenage discos. This has always been the way, and it provides much needed funds for the clubs too.
The Rihannas and Beyonces of the world often started their careers at such gigs, so it’s amazing watching their journey to the biggest stadiums in the world.
