Rihanna Returned to the Stage After Years Away, But It Was What She Told the Audience That Shocked Me

If you're a Rihanna fan, you already know the wait for her ninth album has been very real. It's been more than a decade since the singer released her last full-length project, and while she has dropped a few songs here and there, including one from the Smurfs soundtrack, fans are still holding out hope for the long-awaited R9.

Now, after years away from the stage, Rihanna just gave fans a tiny reason to believe a return to music might not be completely off the table.

The 38-year-old singer surprised concertgoers when she joined Jay-Z during his “Extra Innings” concert at Yankee Stadium in New York on Sunday, July 12. The singer stepped onstage to perform "Run This Town" before jumping into "B--ch Better Have My Money." Before leaving the stage, she shared a message with the crowd, per Page Six: “I missed this s–t, y’all! New York, I love you guys!”

And honestly, those words were enough to get me wondering: Could Rihanna be thinking about making her official return to performing?

A fan can dream, right? While there’s no confirmation that new music is on the way, hearing Rihanna say she missed being onstage was still a pretty exciting moment. After all, it’s been 10 years since she released her last album, and in that time she’s focused on expanding her Fenty empire and growing her family, which, no shade, is pretty amazing.

Still, those few words gave fans a little spark of hope.

Earlier this year, Rihanna celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Anti, which was released on January 28, 2016. The album became the singer’s second number-one album and made history as the only album by a Black woman to spend 500 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart. The project also earned six Grammy nominations.

So, will R9 ever happen? Only Rihanna knows. But if Anti ends up being her final album, she definitely left fans with an unforgettable farewell.

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