It’s the concert we all wished we were at but sadly had to watch through grainy phone-camera footage: Rihanna’s one-night-only comeback.
The 36-year-old singer performed her first full live show in almost eight years — not counting her 15-minute slot at the 2023 Super Bowl LVII Halftime show and her 2023 Academy Award performance — at the pre-wedding party of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Indian multibillionaire Mukesh Ambani, and his soon-to-be wife, Radhika Merchant.
For the lucky 1,200-plus guests — including Mark Zuckerberg, Ivanka Trump, and Bollywood stars — the singer took to the stage in Jamnagar, India, to deliver a concert-length 19-song set, including hits such as her career-launching “Umbrella” and the No.1 hits “Diamonds” and “Work,” NME reported.
RIHANNAAAA pic.twitter.com/bdxrSd32D9
— Rihanna Online (@RihannaOnlineBR) March 2, 2024
The show also included live renditions of the songs “We Found Love,” “Stay,” “Rude Boy,” and “All Of The Lights,” and ended with the whole Ambani family joining Rihanna onstage.
“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,” she said to the couple, The National reported.
Rihanna could have received a payday of somewhere between $5 and $9 million, estimates say
There’s been rampant speculation on how much Rihanna earned for her performance. Anonymous sources told India Today that her performance fee could be somewhere between $8 and $9 million.
The Daily Mail estimated a starting price of about $6 million for the gig.
Both wouldn’t be entirely far-fetched guesses if you consider that the pre-wedding celebration budget may be about $120 million, the Daily Mail claimed, citing unnamed sources.
The Ambani family spent nearly $100 million on the wedding of daughter Isha Ambani and her husband, Anand Piramal, The Guardian reported.
Mukesh Ambani, the chair of Reliance Industries, Isha Piramal, Rihanna, Shloka Mehta Ambani, Akash Ambani, and Radhika Merchant react on the stage during pre-wedding celebrations of Anant and Radhika. Reliance Industries/Reuters
There’s no question that the three-day bash — ongoing until Monday — is wildly extravagant, even by the standards of Indian weddings.
The elder Ambani, the chair of the Fortune 500 company Reliance Industries, has an estimated net worth of $113 billion, and it’s clear from the drone show, decor, flowers, and festivities still to come — including the wedding itself, which is scheduled for July — that the family spared no expense.
Booking megastars is also something the family has done before. Beyoncé performed at Isha’s wedding in 2018.
A year later, in 2019, Coldplay’s front man, Chris Martin, and The Chainsmokers entertained guests attending Akash Ambani — Anant Ambani’s older brother — and Shloka Mehta’s pre-wedding bash in Switzerland. The couple also had Adam Levine serenade them at their post-wedding bash.
