Introduction

Rihanna is a singer, dancer and performer from Barbados, West Indies now settled in New York, US. She sings in a broad range of music genres such as R&B, reggae, hip-hop and pop. Rihanna has taken the music, entertainment and fashion industry by storm. Rihanna established herself as a pop singer and dancer to watch out for with the release of her smash hit debut song “Pon de Replay” released in the summer of 2005. She repeated the success with “SOS”, “Umbrella” and “Disturbia” in subsequent years. With her third album Good Girl Gone Bad she became a qualified international pop icon. Since then, Rihanna has been a regular feature on music charts. As an accomplished performer, she has sold 50 million albums and 180 million digital tracks worldwide making her the top-selling digital artist of all time. She has put out 7 albums in 7 years, achieved 12 number-one singles and won 7 Grammy Awards. With over 4 billion views and 20 Vevo certified videos she is the most viewed artist on Vevo/YouTube and is one of the biggest artists on Facebook with over 90 million friends. Apart from her music, Rihanna is also a fashionista known for constantly re-inventing her style, especially her hair.

EARLY LIFE

Rihanna is the daughter of Monica Braithwaite, a retired accountant, and Ronald Fenty, a warehouse supervisor. Her mother is of Afro-Guyanese descent and her father is of Barbadian and Irish background. Rihanna's paternal grandfather was an Afro-Bajan and her paternal grandmother, Betty Fenty, was a Caucasian, of Scottish, English, and Irish roots. Rihanna has two younger brothers and three half siblings from her father’s previous relationships.

Rihanna was born on February 20, 1988 at Saint Michaels in Barbados as Robyn Rihanna Fenty. She was a quiet and shy child. Her childhood was deeply affected by her father’s crack cocaine addiction and her parent’s rocky marriage. When she was 14, her parents separated. Young Rihanna found her solace in music. She used to sing to her family and close friends at school. She lived the life of a normal school going girl. Rihanna did however exhibit certain star qualities by winning beauty contests and talent shows at her school. At the age of 15, Rihanna auditioned for producer Evan Rogers who was visiting Barbados with his wife. Blown away by Rihanna presence and vocal strength, he asked her to come with him to New York for a career in music. Rihanna soon left her home country behind to follow an unexpected path to stardom.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Rihanna and Evan Rogers recorded many songs together. Her inspiration was the Caribbean music which she mixed with R&B tunes. She soon signed a record deal with Def Jam Recordings and its president Jay–Z. She released her debut album Music Of The Sun on May 25th, 2005. Its lead single “Pon De Replay” was a great piece of music, well received by the audience and critics alike. It was also labeled in the U.S as “Summer’s hottest Jams”. She repeated the success of her first album with her second launch A Girl Like Me in 2006 which spawned the Billboard Hot 100 topper “SOS”. Her third album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) continued the successful run for her. This album, however, heralded a change in Rihanna’s music from simple balladry to mature song writing and exquisite dance-pop musical numbers. The album boasted of significant contributions from Jay-Z, Timbaland, StarGate and Ne-Yo. The lead single from Good Girl Gone Bad was “Umbrella” and is considered by Rolling Stone to be one of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Rihanna showed her vocal range in this song that shot to No.1 right after its release. “Take a Bow” and “Disturbia” were other chart busters from the album that helped make Rihanna one of the biggest pop-stars of international fame. Good Girl Gone Bad and Good Girl Gone Bad – Reloaded (2008) were nominated for nine Grammys together. She released Rated R (2009) shortly after a well publicized physical assault by her boyfriend Chris Brown. Brown pleaded guilty to the charges and was asked to stay away from Rihanna by a court order. Her song “Russian Roulette” from Rated R set the tone for darker music and garnered much controversy. The album was platinum certified by RIAA. Her following three albums Loud (2010), Talk That Talk (2011) and Unapologetic (2012) were all platinum certified. In 2012 she also appeared in Battleship, a theatrical feature film.

Rihanna is among the best-selling artists in the world. Several of her songs have been spectacular chart-busters like “Umbrella", "Take a Bow”, “Only Girl (In the World)”, "Disturbia", "S&M", "Diamonds", "We Found Love", and "Stay". All her albums have been big commercial successes. She has sold more than 150 million records. She has won numerous awards and recognition for her contribution to music including seven Grammys, eight American Music Awards, and twenty two Billboard Music Awards. She has been named as one of the 100 Most Influential People by TIME Magazine. Billboard announced that she was the Digital Songs Artist of the decade. In addition to her solo works, Rihanna’s collaborative efforts with other artists have also paid off. She has recorded hit singles like "Run This Town" (with Jay-Z and Kanye West), "Live Your Life" (with T.I.), "Love the Way You Lie" and "The Monster" (with Eminem).

TOP 10 HIT SONGS

1. "Umbrella" featuring Jay-Z - Good Girl Gone Bad (2007)

2. "We Found Love" featuring Calvin Harris – Talk That Talk (2011)

3. "Disturbia" - Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded (2008)

4. "Only Girl (In the World)" - Loud (2010)

5. "SOS" – A Girl Like Me (2006)

6. "Don't Stop the Music" – Good Girl Gone Bad (2007)

7. "What's My Name?" featuring Drake - Loud (2010)

8. "Diamonds" – Unapologetic (2012)

9. "Take a Bow" - Good Girl Gone Bad – Reloaded (2008

10. “Rude Boy" – Rated R (2009)