Robyn Rihanna Fenty NH was born February 20, 1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados. She is the daughter of accountant Monica (née Braithwaite) and warehouse supervisor Ronald Fenty. Her mother is an Afro-Guyanese, while her father is a Barbadian of African, Irish, English, and Scottish descent. Rihanna has two brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty, and two half-sisters and a half-brother from her father’s side, each born to different mothers from his previous relationships. She grew up in a three-bedroom bungalow in Bridgetown and sold clothes with her father in a stall on the street. Her childhood was deeply affected by her father’s alcoholism and crack cocaine addiction, which contributed to her parents’ strained marriage.
Rihanna’s father used to abuse her mother physically, and Rihanna would try to get in between them to break up fights. is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. She is widely regarded as one of the most prominent singers of the 21st century. After signing with Def Jam in 2005, Rihanna soon gained recognition with the release of her first two studio albums, Music of the Sun 2005 and A Girl Like Me 2006, both of which were influenced by Caribbean music and peaked within the top ten on the US Billboard 200 chart. Her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad 2007, incorporated elements of dance-pop and established her status as a major icon in the music industry. The chart-topping single “Umbrella” earned Rihanna her first Grammy Award and catapulted her to global stardom.
Aside from music, Rihanna is known for her involvement in humanitarian causes, entrepreneurial ventures, and the fashion industry. She is the founder of the nonprofit organization Clara Lionel Foundation, cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty, and fashion house Fenty under LVMH; she is the first black woman to head a luxury brand for LVMH.[8] Rihanna has also ventured into acting, appearing in major roles in Battleship 2012, Home 2015, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets 2017, and Ocean’s 8 2018. She was appointed as an ambassador of education, tourism, and investment by the Government of Barbados in 2018 and was declared a National Hero of Barbados on the first day of the country’s parliamentary republic in 2021, entitling her to the style of “The Right Excellent” for life.
As a child, Rihanna had many CT scans for the excruciating headaches she suffered, recalling, “The doctors even thought it was a tumor, because it was that intense.” By the time she was 14, her parents had divorced, and her health began to improve. She grew up listening to reggae music. She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School and Combermere School, where she studied alongside future international cricketers Chris Jordan and Carlos Brathwaite. As an 11-year-old, Rihanna was an army cadet in a sub-military programme, where the later Barbadian singer-songwriter Shontelle was her drill sergeant. She initially wanted to graduate from high school, though chose to pursue a musical career instead.
MUSIC CAREER: In early 2007, Rihanna appeared on the single “Roll It” with Jamaican band J-Status and fellow Barbadian singer-songwriter Shontelle. The song appeared on J-Status’ debut album The Beginning, released in several European countries only. Around that time, Rihanna had already begun work on her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad. With the help of producers Timbaland, Tricky Stewart and Sean Garrett she embraced a new musical direction through uptempo dance tracks. Released in May 2007, the album charted at No. 2 in Australia and the US and topped the charts in multiple countries, including Brazil, Canada, Ireland and the UK. The album received the most positive critical reviews of her first three albums.
On February 8, 2009, Rihanna’s scheduled performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards was canceled. Reports surfaced that then-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, had physically assaulted her. He was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats. On March 5, 2009, Brown was charged with assault and making criminal threats. A leaked photograph from the police department obtained by TMZ.com revealed that Rihanna had sustained visible injuries. A few months after the incident, Rihanna was featured on the single “Run This Town” by Jay-Z, which also featured Kanye West and was released as the second single from Jay-Z’s eleventh studio album The Blueprint 3.
In early 2009, Rihanna began working on her fourth studio album, Rated R. Rated R was released in November 2009. The album had Rolling Stone magazine stating that Rihanna “transformed her sound and made one of the best pop records of the year”. Rated R featured a darker and more foreboding tone than Rihanna’s previous albums. Rated R debuted at No. 4 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album was supported by six singles, including “Rude Boy”, which was the biggest worldwide success from the album, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and reaching top 10 positions in 22 other countries. In January 2010, Rihanna released her charity cover version of “Redemption Song” for the Hope for Haiti Now campaign. She also recorded the song “Stranded (Haiti Mon Amour)” together with Jay-Z, Bono and The Edge for the same campaign to alleviate the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
Rihanna’s sixth album, Talk That Talk, was released in November 2011. The album debuted at No. 3 in the U.S and number No. 1 in the UK The album’s lead single, “We Found Love”, topped charts in twenty-seven countries and peaked in the top 10 in 30 countries and broke many chart records worldwide. The single topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 non-consecutive weeks, becoming Rihanna’s longest-running No. 1 single on the chart and the longest-running No. 1 single of 2011 in the US. The song was later named the 24th biggest hit of all time on the Billboard Hot 100. “You Da One” and the album’s title track, featuring Jay-Z, were released as the second and third singles, to moderate success. “Where Have You Been”, the fifth single, successfully charted worldwide, reaching No. 5 in the US and No. 6 in the UK. “Cockiness (Love It)” was released as the album’s sixth and final single in a remixed form featuring rapper ASAP Rocky.
In 2018, Rihanna launched a lingerie brand named Savage X Fenty. The line was born from Rihanna’s vision creating an inclusive brand. Products come in a variety of shades to match all skin tones and a range of sizes. She showcased the brand at the New York Fashion Week in September 2018. The brand has been positively reviewed by the public for including plus size models in their promotion, though some fans argued there were not enough plus sizes.
In September 2019, Rihanna promoted the brand in a show again during the New York Fashion Week held at the Barclays Center with modeling appearances from models Alex Wek, Bella Hadid, Cara Delevingne, actress Laverne Cox, and musicians Normani and 21 Savage. The show featured performances by DJ Khaled, Halsey, ASAP Ferg, Big Sean, Migos, Fat Joe, Fabolous, and Tierra Whack and premiered on Amazon Prime Video on September 20, 2019, as the Savage X Fenty Show. The show was renewed for a third time in 2020, with appearances from musicians such as Travis Scott, Rosalía, Bad Bunny, Ella Mai, Lizzo, Big Sean, Miguel, Roddy Ricch and Rico Nasty. This version also premiered on Amazon Prime Video on October 2, 2020.
Rihannaand Chris Brown: Dating American singer Chris Brown in 2007. After their relationship ended in February 2009, she entered an on-again, off-again relationship with Canadian rapper Drake, which lasted from 2009 to 2016. During an interview with Rolling Stone in January 2013, Rihanna confirmed that she had rekindled her relationship with Brown, although he remained under probation for their 2009 domestic violence case. Their reunion followed persistent media speculation that occurred throughout 2012. In May 2013, Brown stated during an interview that he and Rihanna had broken up again. In 2017, Rihanna began dating Saudi businessman Hassan Jameel. They split in January 2020.
February 8, 2009, Rihanna’s scheduled performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards was canceled. Reports surfaced that her boyfriend at the time, Chris Brown, had physically assaulted her. He turned himself in to the police and was booked on suspicion of making criminal threats. On March 5, 2009, Brown was charged with assault and making criminal threats. Due to a leaked photograph from the police department obtained by TMZ.com—which revealed that Rihanna had sustained extensive visible injuries—an organization known as STOParazzi proposed “Rihanna’s Law”, which, if enacted, would “deter employees of law enforcement agencies from releasing photos or information that exploits crime victims.” Gil Kaufman of VH1 reported the “nonstop coverage of the Rihanna/Brown case has brought up a number of issues regarding the privacy of alleged victims of domestic violence, including the decision by almost all major news outlets to divulge the identity of the victim—which is not typically done in domestic-violence cases” and discussed the controversial distribution of the leaked photograph. Rihanna was subpoenaed to testify during a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles on June 22, 2009. On June 22, 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault. Brown received five years of probation and was ordered to stay 50 yards (46 m) away from Rihanna unless at public events, which then would be reduced to 10 yards (9 m).
ACHIEVEMENTS: Rihanna has accumulated 14 No. 1 singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for the third most No. 1 songs in the chart’s history. She has been named the top Mainstream Top 40 chart artist of the past twenty years by Billboard; she ranks first with most entries (36), most top tens (23) and most No. 1 songs (10). As of March 2014, Rihanna has sold over 18 million singles and 6 million albums in the United Kingdom. She is the tenth bestselling and the second bestselling female singles artist in the country, only behind Madonna and is second only to the Beatles for the most million-selling singles in the UK of all time. Her collaboration with Eminem, “Love the Way You Lie”, along with “Umbrella”, “Disturbia”, “Only Girl (In the World)”, “We Found Love” and “Diamonds”, are among the best-selling singles of all time. Rihanna has seven No. 1 singles on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and Airplay chart, as well as sixteen No. 1 singles on the Rhythmic chart. She has also earned over 30 top-ten songs in the UK and Australia.
