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The History of Rihanna looks at the life and career of singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman Rihanna. She is one of the most popular singers in music. She has sold over 250 million records worldwide. Everything she touched seemed to turn to gold. Did you know that a pop diva and an r&b legend turned down a single that became a huge hit for Rihanna? She could probably sing the alphabet and the track probably would have made it to the charts. She is one of the biggest selling female artists of all time. Rihanna is one of the richest female musicians of all time. The popular artist has numerous number one and Top 10 singles. Did you know she does a lot of charity work? In addition to her singing and acting career, she has a lot of businesses. She was chosen as one of the most influential people in music. This article will give you an inside look on the History of Rihanna. Whether you are in the Navy (Rihanna’s fans) or not, you will learn about Rihanna’s life and career.
Early Life
Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20, 1988. She was born in St. Michael, but she was raised in Bridgetown, Barbados. Her parents are Ronald and Monica Fenty. Rihanna has two sisters and three brothers. Things weren’t the best in the Fenty household. Monica Fenty had to deal with her husband’s physical abuse as well as his addictions. Rihanna used to suffer from extreme headaches. The singer had to get several CT scans because her headaches bothered her that much. Her parents got divorced by the time she was 14. The “Umbrella” singer wanted to finish high school, but her calling took over. She grew up listening to Reggae music and she wanted to become a singer.
Rihanna formed a group with two classmates in Barbados. The group auditioned for record producer Evan Rogers. As soon as he saw Rihanna, he was impressed. Unfortunately, he didn’t notice the other girls in the group. He wanted Rihanna to come to the United States so she could record demos that would go to different labels. Her demo was sent to Def Jam Records. An A&R named Jay Brown heard the demo and played it for rapper Jay Z. Jay Z wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear her music, but he let her audition for Def Jam. In 2005, she auditioned for Def Jam. Jay Z introduced her to songwriter and producer Antonio “LA” Reid. Jay Z and LA Reid were impressed with her audition. LA Reid didn’t want her to walk out without getting signed to the label. The “Take a Bow” singer was signed to a six-album record deal with the label.
Music of the Sun
In May 2005, Rihanna’s debut single “Pon de Replay” was released. The song was immediately popular. The single peaked at number two on the Hot 100 charts as well as the UK charts. The song was a number one dance hit. Music of the Sun was released in August 2005. The album debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 charts. The album sold over 69,000 copies during the first week of release. The next single “If It’s Lovin’ That You Want” didn’t perform as well as “Pon de Replay,” but it cracked the Top 10 in other countries. The album went on to sell over one million copies.
Acting Debut, A Girl Like Me & Rihanna: Live in Concert Tour
Like most artists, Rihanna wanted to try her hand at acting. She had a cameo appearance in the movie Bring It On: All or Nothing. She played herself in the movie. The movie came out in 2006. After the success of Music of the Sun, the singer began working on her follow up album. A Girl Like Me came out in 2006. The critics were impressed with the album. They gave the album positive reviews. The critics weren’t too sure about her previous album, but they enjoyed this one. The album peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 charts and on the UK charts. “SOS” was the first track released from the album. The track was an instant smash for the singer. It was her first song to peak at number one on the Hot 100 charts. “Unfaithful” and “Break It Off” peaked in the Top 10 on the Hot 100 charts. The album sold over two million copies. Rihanna promoted her albums by going on tour. She launched the Rihanna: Live in Concert tour in 2006. The tour was from July 2006 to September 2006.
Good Girl Gone Bad LP and Tour, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded LP, Just Stand Up! & Live Your Life
The first single from Good Girl Gone Bad was “Umbrella.” “Umbrella” was released in March 2007. The song was a smash hit. Pop star Britney Spears and R&B legend Mary J. Blige were offered the track before it was given to Rihanna to record. They turned the song down and it was a blessing for Rihanna. The track went on to peak at number one on the Hot 100 charts as well as in other countries. The track was number one in the UK for 10 consecutive weeks. It’s one of her best-selling singles. “Umbrella” sold over eight million copies. In May 2007, a masterpiece dropped on the music scene. Good Girl Gone Bad was released. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 charts as well as in other countries. The rest of the singles from the album are “Shut Up and Drive,” “Hate That I Love You,” “Don’t Stop the Music” and “Rehab.” All the singles from the album peaked in the Top 20 on the Hot 100 charts. The album sold over nine million copies.
The ”Disturbia” singer embarked on the Good Girl Gone Bad Tour worldwide tour in September 2007. Singers Ciara, Chris Brown, Akon and Kat DeLuna opened for Rihanna. The tour grossed $10 million. The label reissued Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded in June 2008. The album featured three new songs. “Take a Bow” and “Disturbia” peaked at number one on the Hot 100 charts. “If I Never See Your Face Again” is the third song from the album. Rihanna sang the song with Maroon 5.
In August 2008, Rihanna joined other female singers to record the charity single “Just Stand Up!.” It’s a charity single about cancer. The song was co-written by Babyface. The single also features Beyonce, Carrie Underwood, Mary J. Blige, Ciara, Mariah Carey, Keisha Cole, Ashanti, Miley Cyrus, Sheryl Crow, Nicole Scherzinger, Fergie, Leona Lewis, Natasha Bedingfield, LeAnn Rimes and Melissa Etheridge. The single peaked at number 11 on the Hot 100 charts.
In September 2008, the singer teamed up with Rapper T.I. They recorded “Live Your Life” for his album Paper Trail. The song was a hit worldwide. The song peaked at number one on the Hot 100 charts. The song is his third number one track and her fifth number one track. “Live Your Life” is one of T.I.’s most successful singles. The song won numerous awards. The track sold over four million copies.
Rated R, Working with Eminem, Last Girl on Earth Tour & Loud LP and Tour
The “Love on the Brain” singer released “Russian Roulette” in October 2009. “Russian Roulette” was another hit for the singer. The song peaked at number nine on the Hot 100 charts. The song sold over two million copies. The album dropped in November 2009. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 charts. Rated R sold 181,000 copies during its first week. The singles are “Hard,” “Wait Your Turn,” “Rude Boy,” “Rockstar 101” and “Te Amo.” “Rude Boy” peaked at number one on the Hot 100 charts. “Hard” peaked at number eight on the Hot 100 charts. The album sold over three million copies. Rihanna promoted the Rated R album by going on the Last Girl on Earth Tour. The tour was from April 2010 – March 2011. The tour made $24 million.
During the summer of 2010, she worked with Eminem on the single “Love the Way You Lie.” The song was a hit on the charts. The song peaked at number one on the Hot 100 charts. It was the best-selling single in the UK in 2010. This was the first of Rihanna’s singles to sell over one million copies in the UK.
She started working on her next album. Rihanna released “Only Girl (In the World)” in September 2010. The song peaked at number one on the Hot 100 charts. Rihanna released Loud in November 2010. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 charts. The album sold over 207,000 copies during the first week of release. This album was the biggest selling first week sales during her career when it was released. The other singles from the album include “What’s My Name?,” “Raining Men,” “S & M,” “Man Down,” “California King,” “Bed” and “Cheers (Drink to That).” “What’s My Name?” and “S & M” peaked at number one on the Hot 100 charts. The album sold over eight million copies. The singer and businesswoman launched the Loud Tour in June 2011 – December 2011. The tour was the seventh highest grossing tour in 2011.
Talk That Talk, Battlefield, Unapologetic & Diamonds World Tour
In September 2011, Rihanna released the single “We Found Love.” The single peaked at number one on the Hot 100 charts for 10 nonconsecutive weeks. The song was her 11th number one single. The song is one of her longest running number one singles on the Hot 100 charts. In November 2011, Talk That Talk was released. The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 charts. The album sold 198,000 copies during its first week. The album also features the singles “You da One,” “Talk That Talk,” “Birthday Cake,” “Where Have You Been” and “Cockiness (Love It).” The album sold over five million copies worldwide.
She was bit by the acting bug again. Rihanna landed a role in the feature film Battlefield in May 2012. In September 2012, the singer released “Diamonds.” The song peaked at number one on the Hot 100 charts and became her 12th number one single. The Unapologetic album came out in November 2012. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 charts. The album sold 238, 000 copies during its first week. It’s her first number one album on the Billboard 200 charts. The album was also one of her best-selling debut albums. In addition to “Diamonds,” the album features the singles “Stay,” “Pour It Up,” “Right Now,” “What Now” and “Jump.” The album sold over four million copies. In March 2013, “The Rude Boy” singer went on the Diamonds world tour. It was the fifth highest-grossing tour of 2013. The tour grossed over $137 million.
Working with Shakira, Leaving Def Jam, Anti & More Acting
The “Hate That I Love You” singer worked with Shakira on her single “Can’t Remember to Forget You” in 2014. The song peaked at number 15 on the Hot 100 charts. It was a number one dance hit for the divas. It was Shakira’s 10th Top 40 hit. Rihanna made the tough decision of leaving the label she called home for years. In 2014, she left Def Jam to sign with Roc Nation.
Rihanna was the voice of Tip in the movie Home in 2015. In addition to providing voice work for the movie, she wrote and appeared on the soundtrack. “Work” came out in January 2016. The single peaked at number one on the Hot 100 charts. Anti was released two days after “Work” was released. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 charts. In addition to “Work,” the album features the singles “Kiss It Better,” “Needed Me” and “Love on the Brain.” All the singles from this album were platinum or better. The singer would go on to record singles with other artists throughout the years.
Rihanna appeared in the movie Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets in 2017. In 2018, the star appeared in the movie Ocean’s 8. In 2019, Rihanna starred in Guava Island.
Business Ventures
Perfumes
Rihanna is more than just an entertainer. She has a head for business. She has become a shrewd businesswoman. She uses her last name for her businesses to differentiate her music career from her business career. Rihanna released her first fragrance Reb’l Fleur in January 2011. The perfume made over $80 million. Rebelle came out in February 2012. The third perfume she released was Nude in November 2012. She released Rogue in September 2013. The singer released a male version of Rogue called Rogue Men in 2014.
Streaming Site
In March 2015, the “Don’t Stop the Music” singer became a co-owner for Tidal. Tidal is a streaming site. She released her music on the site. She is a shareholder with Jay Z, Kanye West, Beyonce, Madonna, Chris Martin, Nicki Minaj as well as others. The point of this streaming service is to get people to respect music again.
Agencies
In November 2015, she launched a beauty and stylist agency called Fr8me. This business was launched to help artists book commercials, edit shoots and red carpet appearances. Rihanna believes hair, makeup and fashion play a part in creativity. She’s very involved in the business. She has her hair, makeup and stylist involved in the project. She also opened a photo agency called A Dog Ate My Homework.
Beauty
Rihanna and her team launched Fenty Beauty in 2017. She owns 50 percent of the company. The partnership is worth millions. She released several beauty products. Rihanna released various makeup products for people of all skin colors. It was picked as one of the best inventions of 2017. It changed the way other makeup companies did their makeup. In 2020, Rihanna did a skincare line called Fenty Skin.
Fashion
Rihanna launched a fashion line called Fenty in May 2019. Rihanna was the first woman to create an original clothing line for LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey). She’s also the first woman of color to have a clothing line under the LVMH brand. The line includes footwear, clothes and accessories. The pandemic put a damper in her plans for Fenty. She and her team came up with a new idea to focus on instead of Fenty. In 2018, she and her team came up with a lingerie company called Savage X Fenty. She released lingerie for people of all colors and sizes. Critics praised her for having plus-size lingerie models advertise the line.
Philanthropy
Rihanna wants to give back to the community. She created the Believe Foundation to help sick kids. She also did charity concerts for the Believe Foundation. She didn’t charge for the tickets. The money from the sponsors was donated for medical and school supplies as well as toys for the kids.
In 2008, she helped raise awareness for HIV/AIDS by designing clothes targeted towards the cause.
In 2012, Rihanna performed a show at the House of Blues to raise money for the Children’s Orthopedic Center and the Mark Taper-Johnny Mercer Artist Programs @ Children’s Hospital.
In 2012, the singer donated money to Hurricane Sandy.
In 2014, the singer took place in a campaign that helped people living with HIV and AIDS.
In 2017, Rihanna participated in a Women’s march.
In 2020, Rihanna donated $5 million to Covid-19 Relief. Rihanna gave $700,000 worth of ventilators to the people in Barbados.
In 2020, the singer donated over $2 million to support families suffering from domestic violence.
Personal Life
Rihanna’s personal has been just as publicized as her career. She has been linked to different men in Hollywood. In 2007, Rihanna and singer Chris Brown started dating. In 2009, they had a very public breakup when their argument turned physical. He pled guilty for assault. He had to do probation, community service and counseling for the altercation with Rihanna. There were rumors that they dated again in 2013. The relationship didn’t last because they broke up again. She wanted to be happy so they went their separate ways.
In 2010, Rihanna was linked to Baseball player Matt Kemp. They didn’t stay together long. They broke up by the end of 2010.
In 2015, The “Only Girl (In the World)” singer was rumored to have dated soccer player Karim Benzema. He confirmed that she was his girlfriend. They called it quits in 2017.
Also in 2015, the “Hard” singer was rumored to be dating race car driver Lewis Hamilton.
Rumors began swirling that she dated rapper Travis Scott in 2015.
In 2016, Rihanna was rumored to have dated rapper Drake. He confirmed that he was in love with her when he presented an award to her. They broke up after about two months because their schedules didn’t work out.
Rihanna thought she found the real thing in 2017. She dated someone who wasn’t in Hollywood. She dated billionaire businessman Hassan Jameel. They broke up by January 2020 because their lives were different from each other.
The singer dated rapper A$AP Rocky in 2020. They have a son together.
Trivia
Rihanna has been nominated for at least 634 awards and won at least 235 of the awards.
Her musical influences are Madonna, Mariah Carey, Bob Marley, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Aaliyah, Beyonce, Destiny’s Child, Tupac, Celine Dion, Brandy, Alicia Keys, Lil’ Kim, Prince and Grace Jones.
She won a beauty pageant while she was still in high school.
She had military training in Barbados.
Rihanna has different records in the Guinness Book of Records.
The superstar wasn’t allowed to wear makeup growing up. That’s funny since she has a beauty line.
She was trained to sing by singer and songwriter Ne-Yo.
Her favorite colors are pink, red, black and green.
Rihanna’s favorite actors are Terrence Howard and Denzel Washington.
Her favorite actresses are Jessica Alba, Halle Berry and Meryl Streep.
RIHANNA ARTICLES
Top 10 Rihanna Songs
Complete List Of Rihanna Albums And Songs
Real Meanings Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Music of the Sun Album
Real Meanings Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s A Girl Like Me Album
Real Meanings Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Talk That Talk Album
Real Meanings Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Anti Album
Real Meanings Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Unapologetic Album
Real Meanings Behind The Songs On Rihanna’s Rated R Album
Real Meanings Behind Songs On Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad Album
Ultimate Rihanna Page article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2022
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