Rihanna is finally back releasing new music, and fans are already loving it.
The singer marked her return to the music industry on Friday by dropping the lead single from the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever soundtrack.
Entitled ‘Lift Me Up’, the song is a tribute to the extraordinary life and legacy of Chadwick Boseman.
The actor, who was the star of the original Black Panther movie, sadly passed away in August 2020 following a private battle with colon cancer. He was just 43.
The second film, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, will be released worldwide on November 11.
The film will follow Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba) as they fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death.
It’s safe to say fans are already obsessed with ‘Lift Me Up’, and have taken to Twitter to celebrate Rihanna’s return to music.
3 seconds into lift me up by rihanna pic.twitter.com/T106lq4rIs
— your ultimate 🅿️lug (@GimK_) October 28, 2022
didn’t realize how much i missed hearing rihanna’s voice and new music from her until it all hit me when i pressed play on lift me up
— tejal (@tejschaos) October 28, 2022
RIHANNA VOCALS ON LIFT ME UP 😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/THUBGTFzJl
— 𝖌𝖆𝖇𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖑 🏈 (@gabgonebad) October 28, 2022
just finished listening to rihanna’s future oscar winning song lift me up pic.twitter.com/WDOwWNHPkr
— wiLL (@willfulchaos) October 28, 2022
Omg the song is so beautiful my eyes instantly teared up 😭 #Rihanna #LiftMeUp pic.twitter.com/TPuqUuUq0S
— gurl (@twittabot123) October 28, 2022
me 3 seconds into lift me up by rihanna😭😭 pic.twitter.com/blMhg8Sjfz
— not wade 😠 (@littlewade98) October 28, 2022
RIHANNA IS GIVING US VOCALS #LiftMeUp #Rihanna pic.twitter.com/rIIgekEqdk
— RonnyxAutumn🪞 (@Ronaldnyamilan1) October 28, 2022
Fans have been begging Rihanna to release new music over the past few years, as she hasn’t dropped an album since 2016.
Her last single release was in 2020 when she collaborated with PartyNextDoor on Believe It.
RiRi’s musical comeback comes ahead of her headline performance at the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show at the State Farm Stadium in Arizona on February 12, 2023.
While she’s been taking a break from her music career, the 34-year-old has been busy in other areas of her life.
The songstress welcomed her first child, a baby boy, with her boyfriend A$AP Rocky in May.
Earlier this year, Rihanna also appeared on Forbes’ annual list of America’s richest self-made women for the third year in a row.
With a net worth of $1.4 billion, she ranked 21st in the list, and is its only billionaire under the age of 40.
Rihanna amassed her fortune not only through her 17-year music career, but from her three retail companies – Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin, and Savage x Fenty.
In March, Bloomberg reported that Savage x Fenty lingerie, of which she owns 30%, was working with advisors on an Initial Public Offering (IPO) that could potentially be valued at $3 billion.
The ‘Umbrella’ singer also owns 50% of Fenty Beauty, which produced $550 million in revenue in 2020 – the other 50% is owned by French fashion conglomerate LVMH.
In 2019, Rihanna told The New York Times’ T Magazine that reaching financial milestones was “not going to stop me from working.”
She revealed she wanted to give her money away to causes that matter, “My money is not for me; it’s always the thought that I can help someone else.”
“The world can really make you believe that the wrong things are priority, and it makes you really miss the core of life, what it means to be alive,” she said.
In 2012, the nine-time Grammy Award winner started a philanthropy fund – the Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF), which aims to “support and fund groundbreaking education and climate resilience initiatives.”
One of the foundation’s primary initiatives launched one year after it began, and raised $60 million for women and children affected by HIV/AIDS through sales from her lipstick collection with MAC Cosmetics.
In January, CLF paired up with Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s #SmartSmall initiative to donate a combined $15 million to 18 different climate justice groups.
The next-youngest billionaire on Forbes’ list is 42-year-old Kim Kardashian, who has a net worth of $1.8 billion.