- Stage Name: Rihanna
- Real Name: Robyn Rihanna Fenty
- Born: February 20, 1988
- Home Town: Saint Michael, Barbados
- Age: 21
Robyn Fenty better known as Rihanna, had a rough childhood. She was the oldest of her siblings and started singing when she was 7 years old. She grew up in a home with a father who was addicted to crack cocaine, and physically abused her mother. She witnessed her parent's bad relationship firsthand and when she was 14 her parents divorced. Growing up in Barbados Rihanna was a part of the military and became an army cadet in a sub-military program that actually trained with the Barbados military.
At the age of 15 while in school Rihanna became part of a music group with 2 other girls in her class. The next year some of her friends introduced her to Evan Rogers (a record producer). Evan happened to be on vacation in Barbados. He allowed the girls to audition for him, and was instantly drawn to Rihanna. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly Rogers said "The minute Rihanna walked into the room, it was like the other two girls didn't exist." Sometime after her 16th birthday Rihanna moved to Connecticut to live with Rogers and his wife so she could record her demo. She went to school and in the summer and other school breaks worked on her demo. The demo contained 4 songs... One of those songs happened to be her fist hit single "Pon de Replay". The demo made its way to none other the president of Def Jam records (the Jigga Man him self) Jay-Z! She got invited to audition and the rest is history. Jay signed her on the spot.
Time to record a debut album. Rihanna worked hard for the next three months perfecting her first album. Before releasing the album Def Jam releases Rihanna's first singe the song that got her in to Jay-Z's office "Pon de Replay". The song is an instant hit everywhere. The song makes it to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the U.S. and also peaks in the top 10 in fifteen different countries. It's a global smash! Just weeks after the single hits the charts Rihanna releases her debut album Music of the Sun. The album hit #10 on the Billboard 200, and went certified Gold. Although the second single failed to hit the top 35 the album was still on fire.
One album after another. Rihanna only waited a month after Music of the Sun was released to jump back in to the studio and start working on her second album. Even though she was working on her second album Rihanna went on tour and opened for Gwen Stefani to continue promoting Music of the Sun. Only eight months later (April 2006) she releases her second album A Girl Like Me. The first single released is "S.O.S.", which hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart giving Rihanna her first #1 hit single. The second single was "Unfaithful" hitting #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the top 10 in tons of countries around the world. The third single "We Ride" was not as successful. The forth single brought Rihanna back up to the top of the charts. "Break It Off" featuring Sean Paul hit #9. While the singles were hitting Rihanna went on a couple of different tours, eventually ending up on tour with The Pussycat Dolls in the UK. The album peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200, and went certified platinum. She also received 4 Billboard Music Awards. The biggest one was Best Female Artist of the Year!
Time for some T.V. Rihanna becomes a face for Cover Girl Makeup. She makes #8 on Maxim's Hot 100, and is featured in People's magazines Most Beautiful People issue.
Did someone say bad girl? It is time for an image change. In 2007, Rihanna releases her third album Good Girl Gone Bad, but before releasing the album she releases the first single in March "Umbrella" featuring Jay-Z. The song hit's #1 on the on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and was #1 in the UK for 10 weeks in a row, which made it the first single to do that since 1994. The song blows up and ends up becoming #1 across the country. The second single "Shut Up and Drive" peaked at #15. The third single "Don't Stop the Music" was a smash, hitting #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her fourth single "Hate That I Love You" features Ne-Yo and hit #7.
On a roll Rihanna decided to do a re-release of the album Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded and added 3 more songs to the album. The first 2 new songs actually became the fifth and sixth singles "Take a Bow" and "Disturbia", and both hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart giving Rihanna her third and fourth #1 hit singles. "Take a Bow" became a world wide #1 hit single! When "Take a Bow" was at #1 "Disturbia" was at #2 setting a record. Rihanna is now the 7th singer to have two singles in the top 5 at one time. The last single from her album "Rehab" hit #18. All of the singles from the album did really well landing in the top 20! The last song released off the re-released album was Rihanna's duet with Maroon 5 "If I Never See Your Face Again", but didn't even get in the top 50 of the charts. Even though there were no more hits on the album Rihanna was still holding down the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. How did she do that? She was featured on T.I.'s "Live Ya Life" giving Rihanna her fifth #1 hit single. She is one of three other female solo artists to have the most #1 hits in the 2000's (Beyonce and Lady Gaga are the other two). Overall the album Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded went certified 2x platinum. You go girl.
The album Good Girl Gone Bad got Rihanna nominated for MTV's VMA's where took home Video of the Year, and Monster Single of the Year. At the Grammy's she won her first Grammy for Best Rap/Song Collaboration for the song "Umbrella" featuring Jay-Z. In September Rihanna headed out on her first headlining tour The Good Girl Gone Bad Tour. After a successful tour she teamed up with Mr. West for the Glow in the Dark Tour.
2009, brought harder times for Rihanna, she had her very public breakup with her boyfriend Chris Brown as well as startling information that the beloved singer was assaulted by brown. This horrible event brought back memories of her childhood and her father beating her mother. Rihanna took the time to talk to her fans about domestic violence and to let them know they weren't alone and if told them if they found themselves in a abusive relationship to speak up. If you are a victim of domestic violence call your local domestic violence hotline.
On to happier times, Rihanna collaborated with Jay-Z and Kanye West for Jay's song "Run This Town". The song hits #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Did someone say a fourth album? Rihanna's fourth album Rated R was just released November 23rd. The first single "Russian Roulette" is still climbing the charts, and her second single "Hard" featuring Young Jeezy was released in December. "Hard" is also still climbing the charts. So far the album has hit #4 on the Billboard 200, and the third single is on its way. Watch out for "Wait Your Turn". Rihanna just performed on Saturday Night Live on Saturday December 5, 2009 for her first time. Since she has a new album out look out for a new tour!
