Howard Stern has claimed Rihanna lip-synced the majority of her Super Bowl performance on Sunday – and was caught out by several microphone blunders.

The singer, 34 – who revealed she was pregnant with her second child during the performance – wowed fans with a catalog of her greatest hits, but Stern, 69, told listeners of The Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM on Monday that he believes she mimed.

He said: ‘You know, I don’t even know why she bothered showing up. I could be wrong, but in my opinion, 85 percent of that performance was lip sync.

‘Well, the big giveaway might be when she puts the microphone down by her knees and her lips aren’t moving and the other voices are going,

Co-host Robin Quivers said she ‘couldn’t be sure’ whether Rihanna sang the entire time.

+4

Did she? Howard Stern has claimed Rihanna lip-synced the majority of her Super Bowl performance on Sunday – and was caught out by several microphone blunders

Stern then added: ‘I had a theory, Rihanna was not lip-syncing, but she put the microphone near her vagina so the new baby could sing. The baby was singing backup.’

Rihanna shocked fans when she revealed she was pregnant with her second child during her Super Bowl performance on Sunday

She shares her first child, who was born on May 13, 2022, with the rapper A$AP Rocky, who kept a low profile at the event. The two have kept their growing family under the radar, and so far neither musician has shared the name of their child.

A representative for star confirmed the baby news shortly after the performance finished.

It marks the first time she has performed on live television since 2018, where she joined DJ Khaled on stage to sing Wild Thoughts at the Grammy Awards.

Rihanna started off the show suspended on a platform high above the field as she belted out her single B**** Better Have My Money. She was dressed in a baggy scarlet jumpsuit that covered up her curves and was strapped loosely on her.

The hitmaker paired the suit with a set of chunky red trainers. The platform she was suspended on then descended toward the field, where she joined a bevy of dancers in white on stage.

She kept her dancing moves to a minimum while letting the backup dancers pick up the slack.

Rihanna stuck to the hits and didn’t reveal any new songs during her performance, which featured 12 songs. She had the crowd going wild as she transitioned into Where Have You Been, followed by the hit Only Girl (In The World).

+4

No holds barred: He said: ‘You know, I don’t even know why she bothered showing up. I could be wrong, but in my opinion, 85 percent of that performance was lip sync’

+4

We found (lipsync?) ‘Well, the big giveaway might be when she puts the microphone down by her knees and her lips aren’t moving and the other voices are going’

Oh dear; Fans were quick to back Stern on social media over the lipsync claims

We Found Love, Rude Boy and her hit Work followed, though her collaborator Drake wasn’t featured on the later song. She continued with Wild Thoughts and Pour It Up.

The hitmaker made some controversial song choices, including an excerpt of her verse from the rapper Kanye West’s All Of The Lights, and she also performed part of Jay-Z’s Run This Town, which also featured West in its original version.

West was disgraced after making numerous anti-Semitic comments, including reportedly praising Adolf Hitler.

Rihanna concluded her performance with the one-two punch of Umbrella and then Diamonds as the closer.

She eschewed some of the pyrotechnics of recent Super Bowl halftime performances and seemingly bet that her fans would be happy to see her without the added theatrics.

The superstar, who was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, has not released a solo album since January 2016. Her only solo music in the last seven years came in October, when she released Lift Me Up in tribute to the late actor Chadwick Boseman for the Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which earned the singer a nomination for an Academy Award.

+4

Big reveal: Rihanna shocked fans when she revealed she was pregnant with her second child during her Super Bowl performance on Sunday