Rihanna back with gridiron songs

Rihanna will headline the Super Bowl halftime show in February, marking a long-awaited return to performing for a singer who'd previously turned down the gig in protest.

Barbados-born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, 34, has become a billionaire, moving into cosmetics, lingerie and high-fashion brands.

She also is the first black woman to head a fashion house for the French powerhouse LVMH.

But even as the singer with hits like Diamonds and Umbrella put music aside, she and American rapper A$AP Rocky, 33, announced in January they were expecting a child. They welcomed a boy in May, but no details have been made public.

Performing at the Super Bowl will be an about-face for Rihanna, who in 2019 confirmed she'd turned down an NFL offer to play the coveted halftime show in solidarity with former player Colin Kaepernick.

Kaepernick, who has not played in the NFL since opting out of his contract with the San Francisco 49ers in March 2017, began kneeling in protest of social injustice and racial inequality during pre-game renditions of the US national anthem.