Dr. Dre Advises Rihanna to Tap ‘Right Creative People’ for Super Bowl Halftime

Rihanna is officially set to perform the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in Glendale, Arizona in 2023, and shortly after the news broke on Sunday, this year’s headliner and self-proclaimed Rihanna “super fan” Dr. Dre offered the pop star some advice.

“Put the right people around you, and have fun,” the Beats by Dre co-founder told Apple Music 1 host Ebro Darden. “That’s basically what it is, making sure you have the right creative people around you. She might want to look into some of the people that we used to do our show.”

Dr. Dre’s 2022 halftime set —which included Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Snoop Dogg — made history as the first time the Super Bowl featured hip-hop as the centerpiece for its halftime show.

He admitted the experience made him nervous, but he surrounded himself with people who came through to make it successful. “We had a good time, although it’s a lot of things and a lot of people you have to depend on,” he explained. “You’re talking about at least 3,000 people that you have to depend on to get this show right for 13 minutes. So it is an extreme amount of pressure, but it’s fun at the same time. When it’s done, it’s like goosebumps, bro.”

As for Rihanna’s upcoming appearance, he’s excited to see it. “I just like her and what she does, and her get down, and how she approaches her artistry and the whole nine. It’s fantastic. She has the opportunity to really blow us away. I know we set the bar extremely high.”

The Super Bowl 57 halftime show will mark Rihanna’s first public performance in more than five years, as the singer last appeared onstage at the 2018 Grammy Awards to perform “Wild Thoughts” with DJ Khaled.

The 2023 Super Bowl halftime show will also be the first sponsored by Apple Music, who signed a new multi-year partnership with the NFL after Pepsi’s 10-year sponsorship ended. Super Bowl LVII will air on Fox.