This article will focus on Rihanna biography, who was born on February 20, 1988, in Barbados. She is a versatile individual who has made a name for herself as a singer, actress, and businesswoman in the entertainment industry.
After signing with Def Jam in 2005, Rihanna released 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 achieved high chart positions. They both peaked in the top ten of the US Billboard 200 chart and helped to establish her as a prominent figure in the music industry.
- Full Name : Robyn Rihanna Fenty
- Date of Birth : February 20, 1988
- Place of Birth : Barbados
- Occupation : Barbadian singer
- Spouse : Rakim Mayers ( also know as A$AP Rocky )
- Net Worth : $1.7 billion
Early life
Rihanna, whose birth name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, was born in Saint Michael, Barbados, on February 20, 1988. She spent most of her childhood in Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados. Her mother is Guyanese, and her father is Barbadian.
Rihanna developed a passion for music at an early age and grew up listening to a mix of Caribbean music like reggae and American R&B and hip-hop. She has two brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty, from her father’s side, as well as two half-sisters and a half-brother from her mother’s past relationships.
As a child, Rihanna and her family lived in a three-bedroom bungalow in Bridgetown, and she helped her father sell clothes from a street stall.
Career
Music Career
In 2004, Rihanna teamed up with two friends to form a girl trio. They caught the attention of American record producer Evan Rogers, who helped them record a demo. Rogers then arranged for them to meet with rapper Jay-Z, who was the chairman of Def Jam at the time. Jay-Z was impressed by Rihanna’s talent and quickly signed her to the label.
For her professional career, Rihanna adopted her first and middle names as her stage name. She released her debut single “Pon de Replay” in 2005, a lively and dancehall-influenced hit that helped her quickly gain a large and devoted global fan base.
After the success of her debut single “Pon de Replay,” Rihanna’s debut album Music of the Sun (2005) also enjoyed commercial success, in part due to the popularity of the hit song. The album featured a mix of traditional R&B ballads and Caribbean-inspired dance-pop that showcased Rihanna’s distinctive Barbadian vocal style.
Rihanna continued her streak of success with the release of her second album, A Girl Like Me (2006), which featured more upbeat and club-oriented tracks. The album’s lead single “S.O.S.” was a major hit and became Rihanna’s first number-one single on the Billboard chart. The song also featured a sample of the 1981 new-wave hit “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell.
In 2007, Rihanna decided to shed her previous youthful image with her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad. To accomplish this, she worked with high-profile collaborators like Timbaland and Justin Timberlake to craft a collection of sleek R&B tracks that showcased her as a fiercely independent and rebellious woman, departing from the Caribbean-inspired rhythms of her first two albums. The album was a commercial success, selling several million copies worldwide.
The album’s lead single, “Umbrella,” featuring a rap intro from Jay-Z, became one of the year’s biggest hits and earned Rihanna a Grammy Award. The song’s anthemic quality captured the attention of audiences worldwide and helped solidify Rihanna’s status as a pop superstar.
In 2009, Rihanna made headlines when she was physically assaulted by her then-boyfriend, R&B star Chris Brown. The incident received widespread coverage in tabloid news and gossip blogs, and Brown was subsequently convicted of assault. Later that year, Rihanna released her album Rated R, which she co-wrote. The album featured stark production and brooding lyrics that touched on themes of revenge. Despite a slight decline in sales, Rihanna had another hit with “Rude Boy.”
Rihanna made a comeback with the more upbeat music of her album Loud (2010), which featured the sexually explicit single “S&M.” The song became her 10th number-one hit on the Billboard chart, making her the youngest artist to achieve this milestone at just 23 years old. Rihanna’s collaborations with hip-hop artists T.I. and Eminem also contributed to her success, including her vocals on Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie” (2010), which added depth to the song’s depiction of an abusive relationship.
Rihanna, known for her seductive and confident persona, continued to produce chart-topping hits with her albums Talk That Talk (2011) and Unapologetic (2012), featuring the popular singles “We Found Love” and “Diamonds,” respectively. The latter album also included a controversial duet with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, with whom she briefly rekindled her romance. In 2016, Rihanna released her eighth studio album, Anti, which showcased a more experimental sound. In exciting news, it was announced that Rihanna would be headlining the halftime show at the 2023 Super Bowl.
Acting career
Rihanna’s career isn’t limited to music, she has also dabbled in acting. She appeared in the films This Is the End and Battleship (2012), and lent her voice to one of the main characters in the animated movie Home (2015). She showcased her acting skills once again in Ocean’s 8 (2018), a female-led remake of the popular Ocean’s Eleven franchise. In the movie, she played the role of a skilled hacker. Rihanna also starred alongside Donald Glover in Guava Island, a musical which debuted at the Coachella Valley Festival in 2019 and was later streamed on Amazon.
Fenty Beauty & Fashion
In the early 2010s, Rihanna collaborated with other artists on several cosmetics lines before launching her own brand, Fenty Beauty, in 2017. The brand quickly gained a devoted following and was praised for its inclusivity, offering 40 different shades of foundation. In 2019, it was announced that Rihanna would be collaborating with LVMH Moët Hennessy–Louis Vuitton to create the fashion label Fenty. This made history as Rihanna became the first woman of color to lead a fashion house at LVMH, the largest producer of luxury goods in the world. Later that year, the debut Fenty collection was unveiled.
Personal Life
Rihanna was romantically involved with American singer Chris Brown, starting in 2007. After their relationship ended in February 2009, she began dating Canadian rapper Drake, with whom she had an on-again, off-again relationship that lasted until 2016.
In 2017, Rihanna began dating Saudi entrepreneur Hassan Jameel, but they broke up in January 2020. As of May 19, 2021, Rihanna is currently dating American rapper ASAP Rocky, and on January 31, 2022, the couple announced they were expecting their first child. It was later confirmed that Rihanna gave birth to a son on May 19, 2022.
Discography
2016: Anti
2012: Unapologetic
2011: Talk That Talk
2010: Loud
2009: Rated R
2007: Good Girl Gone Bad
2006: A Girl Like Me
2005: Music of the Sun
Selected filmography
2019: Guava Island
2018: Ocean’s 8
2017: Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
2015: Home
2013: This Is the End
2012: Battleship
2006: Bring It On: All or Nothing
Influence and Impact
In 2006, Rihanna established the Believe Foundation, which supports children with terminal illnesses. She served as one of the 2007 Cartier Love Charity Bracelet Ambassadors, representing one of the many international charities. In February 2008, Rihanna and other prominent figures created clothing for the H&M Fashion Against AIDS collection to promote awareness and fight HIV/AIDS. To raise money for the Believe Foundation in 2008, Rihanna performed a series of benefit shows called “A Girl’s Night Out,” which were open to the public free of charge. The proceeds from sponsors and marketers were used to provide toys, educational supplies, and medical supplies to children in need.
In September 2008, Rihanna joined forces with fifteen other female singers to contribute to the song “Just Stand Up!”. The song was performed live on September 5, 2008, as part of the “Stand Up to Cancer” television program. All the sales generated by the single were donated to the charity event. The television program was aimed at raising funds for cancer research and was a great success, raising a total of $100 million.
Rihanna founded the Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) in 2012 as a tribute to her late grandparents, Lionel and Clara Braithwaite. On January 3, 2014, she also took part in the MAC Viva Glam initiative, which provides aid to people affected by HIV/AIDS, including men, women, and children.
In March 2020, Rihanna donated $5,000,000 towards COVID-19 relief efforts. She also provided additional assistance to the state of New York by donating PPE and offered to donate $700,000 worth of ventilators to Barbados, her home country. In April 2020, Rihanna matched Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s donation of $2,100,000, bringing her total donation to $4,200,000. The funds were used to support victims of domestic violence and their children during the lockdown by providing them with essential services.
READ ALSO: Rex Lawson Biography
Controversies
On February 8, 2009, Rihanna’s highly anticipated performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards was postponed. Reports revealed that she had been physically assaulted by her boyfriend at the time, Chris Brown. Brown later surrendered to the authorities and was taken into custody on a criminal threat charge. On March 5, 2009, Brown was accused of assault and making a criminal threat.
Achievement
As of September 2018, Rihanna had sold over 250 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling musicians of all time. Her successful career has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including 9 Grammy Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, and 8 People’s Choice Awards. In 2013, Rihanna was presented with the “Icon Award” at the American Music Awards, while at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, she received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award. Additionally, Rihanna holds six Guinness World Records. She is also the best-selling digital artist in the US, with over 10 million album sales, as per Nielsen SoundScan. In 2012, Rihanna broke the Guinness World Record for the most digital single sales with over 58 million.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Rihanna achieved 100 million Gold and Platinum song certifications on July 1, 2015. She is the first and only artist to reach the RIAA’s cumulative 100 million single award milestone and holds the record for the most digital single awards. In the UK, Rihanna has sold over 7 million albums, making her the third-best-selling female artist of the 20th century. Additionally, Billboard reports that her albums have sold 54 million copies worldwide.
Rihanna holds an impressive record with 14 No. 1 singles, ranking third in the history of the US Billboard Hot 100 list. Billboard has recognized her as the top Mainstream Top 40 chart performer of the past 20 years, with a record-breaking 36 entries, 23 top tens, and 60 No. 1 hits. In the UK, as of March 2014, Rihanna has sold over 6 million albums and 18 million singles, making her the country’s second-best-selling female singles artist after Madonna. She also has the most million-selling singles overall in the UK, behind only the Beatles, and is the tenth best-selling artist overall.
Rihanna has achieved tremendous success with several of her hit singles, including “Umbrella,” “Disturbia,” “Only Girl (In the World),” “We Found Love,” and “Diamonds,” as well as her duet with Eminem, “Love the Way You Lie,” which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. She has topped the Rhythmic chart with sixteen No.1 singles and the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs list, the Airplay chart, and both with seven No. 1 hits. She is the only artist in the twenty-first century to have surpassed 30 top-ten singles in both the UK and Australia.
Net Worth
As of October 2022, Rihanna had a net worth of $1.7 billion, according to Forbes, making her the richest female musician and one of the wealthiest singers in the world.
Social Media Handles
Rihanna maintains an active presence on social media platforms, particularly Instagram and Twitter. She has verified accounts on both platforms, with 139 million followers on Instagram and 107.5 million followers on Twitter. To stay updated on her latest posts and activities, you can follow her using the following social media handles:
- Instagram: @badgalriri
- Twitter: @rihanna
Leave a Reply