Bebe Rexha, the Brooklyn-born pop architect behind stadium singles like Meant to Be and I’m Good (Blue), rolled into Midtown on Friday looking less like a morning-show guest and more like the last person you expected to share airtime with traffic and weather. The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, now 36 and freshly independent after June’s Dirty Blonde album, took the outdoor stage at the TODAY Plaza inside Rockefeller Center as part of the 2026 Citi Concert Series on TODAY. Fans started lining up before dawn. Check-in hit 5:15 a.m. The set wrapped around 9:30 a.m. That is a brutal call time for anyone, let alone someone wearing fishnets and spiked pink gloves.
Bebe Rexha performed on NBC’s Today at Rockefeller Plaza in New York City on August 28, 2026 in a stage look built from leopard print, black corsetry, silver-toned hardware and vivid pink gloves. The outfit is dense with detail, but its hierarchy is clear: the structured black waist section sits at the center, with leopard-patterned cups above and fishnet-covered legs below.
And that outfit was not shy. A leopard lace bustier sat under a cropped white shrug, then a black leather corset cinched everything into a cartoon hourglass, stacked with grommets, extra belts, hanging chains and a silver buckle that looked like it could start a motorcycle. Fishnets ran down the legs. Hot pink spiked fingerless gloves clutched the mic. A chunky silver chain necklace finished the whole thing off like jewelry for someone who does not do quiet mornings. For a show that usually sells coffee and soft lighting, it was a lot. Deliciously a lot. Some looks whisper. This one leaned into the camera and asked if breakfast was over yet.
Between songs she talked about leaving the major-label machine. Dirty Blonde is her first independent project, and she did not dress it up. “I’m newly independent as a music artist and it’s kind of hard not being in a major label system because it’s such a big machine and I was nervous, but I felt so free,” she said. “I get to do things my own way.” That freedom showed up in the set list and in the styling. No polite blazer. No safe midday dress. Just the same restless energy that took her from writing hits for other people to owning the plaza with a look that would have gotten a side-eye in a Midtown lobby and a standing ovation on a festival stage.
