Rihanna played her first full live show in almost eight years last night (March 1) at a pre-wedding ceremony in India – watch footage and see the setlist below.
The singer was reportedly paid $6million (£4.7million) to perform a private concert celebrating the marriage of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Indian billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani, and his partner Radhika Merchant (via TMZ).
Taking place in Ambani’s hometown of Jamnagar, the extravagant three-day event hosted a 19-song gig from Rihanna – marking her first full-length performance since 2016 (via Setlist.FM).
The show included live renditions of hits such as ‘We Found Love’, ‘Umbrella’, ‘Stay’, ‘Rude Boy’, ‘Diamonds’, ‘Work’ and ‘All Of The Lights’.
“I’m here tonight in honour of Anant and Radhika, thank you for having me here. God bless your union, I wish you all the best, congratulations,” Rihanna said onstage. “How many of you believe in love? Make some noise for love right now.”
Following the performance, the star told reporters: “The show was the best. I haven’t done a real show in eight years.” Check out a selection of fan-shot videos here:
Rihanna always looks so happy when she performs Diamonds 🥹 💎 pic.twitter.com/i0IkDoOpDM
Rihanna performing “Umbrella” in India tonight. pic.twitter.com/poPQlinPXd
Rihanna performing UMBRELLA ☔️ pic.twitter.com/8K0ctRhnlE
Rihanna’s speech during her ambani pre wedding festival performance in India pic.twitter.com/TZifOMvT2a
Rihanna performing “Rude Boy” / “Work” in India tonight. pic.twitter.com/QCJOKYXSbF
Rihanna performing “We Found Love” in India tonight. pic.twitter.com/mnYeAsdn16
Rihanna performing “We Found Love” in India tonight. pic.twitter.com/mnYeAsdn16
pic.twitter.com/CLwvB11CZm
pic.twitter.com/N5sVcQGpjJ
Rihanna performing “Work” in India tonight. https://t.co/gmw1ff2LcP
rihanna singing ‘stay’… she sounds so good pic.twitter.com/yFmsavAlU7
Rihanna sang ‘turn up the lights yeah baby’ and they made it pitch dark 😭🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/tmzOwaudnW
Rihanna is worth 1 Billion . And she is made a wedding function singer by the ambanis ! Wealth can do literally anything ! pic.twitter.com/tlKg5R3p5j
Rihanna performing “Wild Thoughts” in India tonight. pic.twitter.com/cg14CVCmfM
Rihanna twerking in Jamnagar at Anant & Radhika’s wedding was not on my 2024 list 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/XZfMCkHNRB
It’s been 2 months to 2024 and we already got to See Rihanna dancing on Zingaat😭 pic.twitter.com/SZTvPsTGHE
Rihanna performing B!tch Better Have My money, Wild Thoughts and Work and more last night at Ambani’s pre-wedding in India🇮🇳. HQ video .@rihanna She killed this performance and look stunning.🇮🇳🫶🔥💚👑 pic.twitter.com/M6LgANy8DY
Rihanna performing “Pose” in India tonight. pic.twitter.com/AqHZD6b9GW
Rihanna singing “Stay” in India tonight. https://t.co/DnI7i2aL8i
Rihanna in India. pic.twitter.com/oFjX0rCvcB
A closer look at Rihanna’s stage for her performance in India today 🇮🇳🎤 pic.twitter.com/64QF6w7DPQ
Rihanna’s dancers for her performance in India today 🇮🇳🎤 pic.twitter.com/AETtAVOVl0
Rihanna’s performance in India will be showed on a big screen near the venue 🇮🇳🎤 pic.twitter.com/hgNsS89ngP
It is said that the guestlist for the pre-wedding party included a host of Bollywood stars, business leaders, politicians and Indian cricketers. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was among those spotted arriving in Jamnagar, located in the state of Gujarat.
Ambani and Merchant are due to tie the knot in Mumbai this July. Mukesh spent over $100million (£79million) for his daughter Isha’s wedding in 2018, which included a private show from Beyoncé.
Rihanna’s setlist was:
‘Consideration’
‘Bitch Better Have My Money’
‘Wild Thoughts’
‘Pour It Up’
‘Pose’
‘Birthday Cake’
‘Man Down’
‘Rude Boy’
‘Work’
‘Needed Me’
‘Where Have You Been’
‘We Found Love’
‘Umbrella’
‘Stay’
‘All Of The Lights’
‘Run This Town’
‘Desperado’
‘Woo’
‘Diamonds’
Last year saw Rihanna headline the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show and deliver a powerful performance of her 2022 song ‘Lift Me Up’ at the Oscars.
In December, the singer teased that a full comeback was on the horizon after she was reported to have signed a new deal with Live Nation.
- READ MORE: Rihanna: every album ranked and rated
“Well we’re always gonna go back on tour,” she said. “[But] I feel I want to do a tour when there’s new music. We already know what that’s gonna be, with the songs that I’ve performed on my last tour. That was a long time ago.”
She continued: “I feel like it’s only fair that my fans get what they’ve been waiting on, which is new music. After that, let’s just like, blow everything up.”
Rihanna’s eighth and latest full-length album, ‘Anti’, was released in 2016.
Last month, A$AP Rocky revealed that his partner Rihanna was still “working on” her highly-anticipated ninth record. She has been teasing the project, dubbed ‘R9’, since 2018, first promising to release it in 2019.
Rihanna is currently among the rumoured acts for Glastonbury 2024. In October, the festival’s co-organiser Emily Eavis teased that there could be two female headliners closing the Pyramid Stage this summer.
Eavis had previously explained that Guns N’ Roses were booked to top the bill last year after an unnamed female headliner was forced to cancel because she “changed her touring plans”. The Glasto boss said she hoped to secure them within the next five years.
