Back and better than ever!
Missy Elliott marked her long-awaited return to the spotlight as a very special guest during Katy Perry‘s halftime performance for Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, Feb. 1, in Glendale, AZ.
The rapper/singer, who’s been majorly MIA since releasing her sixth album The Cookbook in 2005, entered midway through Perry’s electrifying set with a medley of hits like “Get Ur Freak On,” “Work It,” and “Lose Control,” drumming up feelings of nostalgia among early 2000s hip-hop fans everywhere. (Us Weekly first broke news of Missy’s Super Bowl cameo late last week.)
The beloved star, 43, also showed off her 30-pound weight loss in a bespoke leather racing suit created by New York City designer Jay Kos with a leather baseball cap, huge hoop earrings, and a long sleek ponytail.
So where has Missy been hiding? Back in 2008, Elliott went public with her battle with Graves disease, an immune system disorder that affects the thyroid, which prevented her from doing simply daily tasks such as driving and writing.
“Anybody that has Graves disease, you feel like you finna be outta here,” she said on SiriusXM’s Sway in the Morning in October 2012. “And for me when you say you gotta take a radiation pill you think you really finna be outta here. You know, like what do I really have?” Elliott told the radio show she experienced a number of physical changes. “And you gotta go through seeing my eyes change, and your hair fall out, your skin change. For me that was traumatic.”
Elliott has moved forward despite her illness, releasing two singles with Timbaland called “9th Inning” and “Triple Threat” in 2012, however news of a new album has yet to be announced.
This past October, Elliott credited her weight loss journey to eating healthier, along with doing exercise videos. “Didn’t lose 70 pounds. That was during my ‘Under Construction’ album,” she tweeted. “This time I lost 30 eating healthy/work out to @ShaunTFitness T25 videos. I do the Insanity workout. Sweets/bread/ fried foods is my weakness. It’s not easy but health comes 1st :)”
What did you think of Missy Elliott’s Super Bowl halftime performance? Tweet @UsWeekly using the hashtag #stylebyUs!
