Rihanna gives update on elusive R9 album after pregnancy bombshell

Rihanna has insisted her new album won't be delayed too much by her pregnancy.

The 37-year-old pop star - who is expecting her third child with her partner A$AP Rocky - confirmed the happy news at the Met Gala on Monday (05.05.25), and some fans were wondering if it will impact her long awaited record.

Speaking to 'Entertainment Tonight', the 'Umbrella' hitmaker was asked if the album - which has been dubbed 'R9' - will be "put on pause even longer", she said: "No, maybe a couple of videos."

Fans have been waiting nine years for the collection, but RiRi hinted plans are still in place.

She quipped: "I can sing!"

Rihanna - who already has sons RZA, two, and Riot, 21 months, with Rocky - also revealed she isn't "too overwhelmed" by her pregnancy, although there was some initial shock.

She added: "I'm good! I'm shockingly feeling ok, and not too overwhelmed at the moment. At first it was kinda like, 'Ahhh!' "

In the meantime, fans are still waiting for the follow-up to 2016's 'Anti'.

While details are few and far between, in February she offered a tease of what fans can expect from the album.

She told Harper's BAZAAR magazine: "I’ve been in the studio the whole eight years. But it didn’t hit me. I was searching for it.

"I went through phases of what I wanted to do. ‘This kind of album, not that album’. I know it’s not going to be anything that anybody expects.

“And it’s not going to be commercial or radio, digestible. It’s going to be where my artistry deserves to be right now. I feel like I’ve finally cracked it, girl!”

Rihanna insisted there was "no genre" for the album, and she has been determined to make the next batch of songs something "matching [her] evolution".

She added: "After a while, I looked at it, and I was like, this much time away from music needs to count for the next thing everyone hears.

"It has to count. It has to matter. I have to show them the worth in the wait.

"I cannot put up anything mediocre. After waiting eight years, you might as well just wait some more.”