Rihanna has performed on two of the year's biggest stages, but still no new album

CNN  — 

Rihanna has already this year given us a Super Bowl halftime show, a surprise pregnancy, and, now, a performance at the Academy Awards.

Yet, still, no new album.

That may sound greedy, unless you remember that her last album, “Anti,” dropped in 2016 – as in seven years ago.

Oh, she’s teased us with singing the hook on Canadian singer PartyNextDoor’s 2020 single, “Believe It,” and the Oscar-nominated song, “Lift Me Up,” from the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” soundtrack. Her powerful performance of the ballad at the Academy Awards on Sunday brought the audience to their feet.

“Wakanda” star Danai Gurira called Rihanna “royalty in her own right” in introducing Rihanna on Sunday night. The song was written in tribute to “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, who died from colon cancer in 2020 at the age of 43.