Rihanna made a surprising comeback to the stage on Sunday night, joining Jay-Z for his final Yankee Stadium performance in New York. The unexpected return surprised fans, as the singer's live performances have been increasingly limited in recent years.Rihanna's last major live performance before her unexpected comeback alongside Jay-Z was on February 12, 2023, at the Apple Music Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show.The performance was her first full live show in more than five years, after stepping away from the stage following the 2018 Grammy Awards, when she sang Wild Thoughts with DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller.During her 13-minute Super Bowl performance, Rihanna performed a mix of her best singles, including Where Have You Been, All of the Lights, Only Girl (In the World), Work, Umbrella, Diamonds, We Found Love, Run This Town, Wild Thoughts, Bitch Better Have My Money, Rude Boy, and Pour It Up.Her return to the stage quickly became one of the most talked-about halftime shows in recent history, after Rihanna confirmed she was expecting her second child by showing off her baby bump on stage. The performance was also the artist's big return after years away from performing and touring.Why did Rihanna step away from performing?Although Rihanna has yet to release a studio album since ANTI in 2016, she's been busy creating numerous successful businesses.She established Fenty Beauty in 2017, a cosmetics line known for its diverse variety of foundation shades, followed by Savage X Fenty lingerie in 2018 and Fenty Skin in 2020. Her business ventures helped her become one of the world's wealthiest female musicians.During her time away from touring and performing, she focused on her personal life. She started dating rapper A$AP Rocky, and they had their first kid in 2022, followed by their second child in 2023.In late 2022, she released Lift Me Up and Born Again for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The track Lift Me Up earned nominations at both the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards for Best Original Song.Rihanna had previously turned down the Super BowlRihanna famously declined the opportunity to perform at the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show before headlining the event in 2023.She told Vogue that the decision she made was taken in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick, a former NFL quarterback who became the face of racial injustice demonstrations after kneeling during the national anthem. She said:"I couldn't dare do that. Who gains from that? Not my people. I just couldn't be a sellout."She added:"I couldn't be an enabler. There's things within that organization that I do not agree with at all, and I was not about to go and be of service to them in any way."She later said that becoming a mother gave her the confidence to accept the 2023 offer, describing the performance as a challenge she wanted to face despite having just given birth. As reported by the Mirror, Rihanna revealed:"It feels like it could have only been now. When I first got the call to do it again this year, I was like, 'You sure? I'm three months postpartum, should I be making major decisions like this right now? Like, I might regret this.''She continued:"But when you become a mum, there's something that just happens where you feel like you can take on the world, you can do anything. And the Super Bowl is one of the biggest stages in the world."Rihanna concluded with:"So as scary as that was, because I haven't been on stage in seven years, there's something exhilarating about the challenge of it all. And it's important for me to do this this year. It's important for representation and it's important for my son to see that."Rihanna surprises fans at the Yankee Stadium concertRihanna made her latest performance on the third and final night of Jay-Z's epic Yankee Stadium residency, which commemorated the anniversary of Reasonable Doubt.The concert, which was supposed to start at 8 p.m., was delayed by more than three hours due to a security breach that left thousands of people outside Yankee Stadium.According to local sources, a massive crowd rushed one of the stadium's entrances, forcing officials to briefly lock off the venue. While security restored control, no one was permitted to enter or exit the premises. The gates reopened just before 10 p.m., and Jay-Z entered the stage just after midnight.Jay-Z addressed the crowd when he kicked off the show:“Let me explain the delay to you guys. It was like 10,000 people outside, and we closed all the doors, and somebody rushed the door. They closed the door for you guys’ safety and everyone’s safety outside. There’s 10,000 people outside; I don’t want to start the music and people get trampled. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, but I had to make sure everyone was OK. I appreciate your patience.”Despite the delay, the concert, which included Rihanna, became a grand ending to Jay-Z's three-night hometown run.Stay tuned to Soap Central for more information.