Here’s what Adam Levine and the rest of Maroon 5 would ‘love’ to do at the Super Bowl LIII Halftime show, should Rihanna take up her reported offer to perform. HL has the EXCLUSIVE scoop!

Maroon 5 and its lead singer Adam Levine, 39, are hoping Rihanna, 30, has a change of heart. They don’t care the “Lemon” hit maker reportedly turned down the NFL’s offer to perform at the Super Bowl LIII Halftime show, even if that suggests she could’ve been the headliner…not them! “Adam and the band are not mad, sad or anything in between that Rihanna was asked to do the Super Bowl,” a source close to Adam EXCLUSIVELY tells HollywoodLife. Here’s why the band isn’t taking it personally.
“Adam knows that she has been probably asked for years,” our source reveals. With nine Grammys under RiRi’s belt, that’s not hard to believe! Our source continues, “And it doesn’t bruise his ego or the band’s ego because at the end of the day, they are going to put on a great show themselves!” This is also the band’s yearslong dream we’re talking about. Adam once admitted to Howard Stern in a 2015 interview that he and the band “very actively want to play the Super Bowl.” But with that said, they wouldn’t mind sharing the limelight.

“They also hope she has her chance down the line to do it,” our source spills. “And if she changes her stance this year, they would love her to join them to perform ‘If I Never See Your Face Again,’ the song they recorded together.” In case you forgot, Maroon 5 and Rihanna collaborated on a song in 2007! And if the reunion doesn’t happen, it’s not a big deal. Rihanna has her own respectable reason for not doing the show, according to the Us Weekly report. She supposedly opted out of the show to stand in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. He’s the San Francisco 49ers’ former quarterback who kick-started the movement of kneeling during the national anthem at NFL games as a protest against oppression of black people and minorities. Controversy ensued, and Rihanna has supposedly shown who she sides with amidst the free agent’s collusion lawsuit against the NFL.

While the NFL hasn’t made an official announcement about the headliner, multiple sources have confirmed to our sister site Variety that the band is set to rock out in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. But with Rihanna most likely out (for now), who else is in the running to entertain the Super Bowl fans? As we’ve reported in September, the NFL told Maroon 5 they are “more than welcome” to invite a previous collaborator, according to what a source close to the band EXCLUSIVELY shared with us! Our insider went on to list Cardi B, Christina Aguilera, and Kendrick Lamar as possibilities, asides from Rihanna. “They want to have it have a feel like the Super Bowl halftime show with Aerosmith in 2001 where various acts were all a part of it and many fan bases could enjoy,” our source shared. We’ll keep you updated on who fills in Rihanna’s shoes!