Robyn Rihanna Fenty
Rihanna, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988 in Bridgetown, Barbados, signed with Def Jam at age 16 after impressing Jay-Z. She has released eight studio albums, achieved 14 Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, and won multiple Grammy Awards. Her 2007 album Good Girl Gone Bad sold nearly eight million copies worldwide.
Rihanna by the numbers — life, work, and family.
The relatives of Rihanna — parents, partners, children, and siblings.
Rihanna — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
At Combermere School, a top sixth form school in Barbados, Rihanna won beauty pageants and performed Mariah Carey’s Hero at a talent show. The daughter of accountant Monica Braithwaite and warehouse supervisor Ronald Fenty, she was raised in Bridgetown, St. Michael. A friend introduced her to producer Evan Rodgers, who was vacationing in Barbados; he arranged for her to audition for Def Jam CEO Jay-Z in New York. She signed with Def Jam at age 16.
Rihanna’s third album Good Girl Gone Bad, released in 2007, became the third highest selling album worldwide that year and generated three number one Hot 100 hits. Rated R, her 2009 follow-up, included Rude Boy, which became her sixth American number one. In 2010, Loud sold 2.8 million copies in three months. She set a record with 14 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including We Found Love featuring Calvin Harris and S&M featuring Britney Spears. As a musical guest, she performed on Saturday Night Live and appeared on The Graham Norton Show.
In 2009, Chris Brown assaulted Rihanna; he was later sentenced to probation and community service. She had an on-again, off-again relationship with Canadian rapper Drake from 2009 to 2016, having met him while filming the video for her debut single Pon de Replay in Toronto. Rihanna has one child, RZA Athelston Mayers, born in 2022. She remains close friends with Katy Perry, whose bachelorette party she organized.
Rihanna’s influence extends beyond music: she was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people in 2012 and 2018, with an homage by Adele. In 2017, she received the Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award from Harvard University. In 2018, she was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary by the Government of Barbados to promote education, tourism, and investment. With 14 number one singles and over 62 million records sold, she is among the best-selling music artists of all time.
Browse the complete filmography of Rihanna — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
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Rihanna's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Rihanna — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Rihanna — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Love Flirting at the Moment. I’m Single and I’m Enjoying My Freedom. but I Don’t Give My Phone Number Out That Often. but If I’m Dating, I Check the Boy from the Top to the Bottom.
My Weight Fluctuates, but I Don’t Weigh Myself Every Day. I’m 5 Feet 8 Inches and Weigh Around 9 St. 7 Lb.
I Definitely Think a Child Deserves Both Parents. It Would Be Selfish of Me, Because of My Pride and Independence to Say, Oh, I Just Want a Sperm Donor, Because I Can Do It Myself. I Can Do It Myself, but That’s Not Fair. I’m Just Saying That Whatever Comes My Way I’ll Be Able to Handle It, but in a Perfect Book, There Would Be Marriage and Kids.
I Think That Madonna Was a Great Inspiration for Me, Especially on My Earlier Work. If I Had to Examine Her Evolution Through Time, I Think She Reinvented Her Clothing Style and Music with Success Every Single Time. and at the Same Time, Remained a Real Force in Entertainment in the Whole World.
My Mother Would Kill Me If I Posed Nude. She Raised Me with Certain Standards.
Spend Time with People Who Know How to Use Their Days Well. Just as Iron Sharpens Iron, Positive People Will Inspire You to Be Positive.
I Play by My Own Rules so Please Think Twice Before You Step into My Life.
Keep Your Eyes on the Finish Line and Not on the Turmoil Around You.
Don’t Lower Your Standards for Anything or Anyone.
Little-known facts about Rihanna — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Rihanna is the only female artist in the United Kingdom to have three top ten songs at once on the UK Official Chart, and the only artist in 52 years to achieve this.
She is the highest paid female celebrity to be seated front row at fashion shows, earning an estimated $100,000, followed by Beyoncé at $80,000.
Known as the Digital Download Queen, her songs have been downloaded over 75,000,000 times combined.
Def Jam Recordings signed her at age 16.
While filming the music video for We Found Love in Ireland, the farmer whose land was used objected to Rihanna’s revealing outfits and asked the crew to leave.
She organized a bachelorette party for her close friend Katy Perry.
In 2005, she was arrested in Berlin, Germany for not having a visa; she was held for two hours before being released with a temporary visa.
Her father is from Barbados and her mother from Guyana; her paternal grandmother Betty Fenty is of English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry.
She broke her own record by scoring her seventh US number one with Love the Way You Lie featuring Eminem, giving her the most number ones from an artist in the last 10 years.
According to Fashion Lifestyle, she has had over 150 hairstyles since her music career took off in 2005.
Forbes ranked her #4 on The Celebrity 100 in 2012, with earnings of $53 million.
Her music video for S&M was banned in 11 countries within a day of its release for its controversial content.
At the 2011 BET Awards, Rihanna was mistakenly announced as the winner of the Viewer’s Choice Award; the actual winner was her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown.
She became the youngest black female to grace the cover of American Vogue magazine.
In 2009, Chris Brown was sentenced to five years probation and six months community service for assaulting her.
Rihanna has cited Fefe Dobson as an inspiration, admiring her as a fellow black artist writing and performing her own music.
S&M featuring Britney Spears became her 10th number one on the Billboard Hot 100; We Found Love featuring Calvin Harris became her 11th.
She is a fan of Depeche Mode, The Prodigy, Chase & Status, and Chris Brown; she worked with Chase & Status on her album Rated R.
Forbes estimated her net worth at $143 million.
Her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad 2007 was the third highest selling album worldwide in 2007 and the eighth highest in 2008, selling nearly eight million copies.
Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2012 and 2018, with an homage by Adele.
Her third single Rude Boy, from Rated R, became her sixth American number one, making her the most successful female artist of the last 10 years.
She has seven number one singles in Australia as of February 2011, the only non-Australian artist to do so in 20 years.
Rihanna and then-boyfriend Chris Brown canceled their Grammy performance in 2009 after his attack on her.
Billboard magazine named her the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade.
In a 2011 Billboard online poll, We Found Love was voted the third Best Music Video of 2011, receiving 11% of votes.
She has attained nine number one Hot 100 singles; three were achieved in 2010, making her the only female in American history to have her first single go number one after the second.
Her fifth studio album Loud 2010 sold 2.8 million copies worldwide in three months and marked the launch of her business Rihanna Entertainment.
She performed Mariah Carey’s Hero at her school’s talent show.
She attended Combermere, a sixth form school similar to high school in America.
She has two younger brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty, and three half-siblings from her father’s side.
In 2012, she collaborated with Chris Brown on a remix of Birthday Cake and he remixed Turn Up the Music featuring her.
She is friends with Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and good friends with Katy Perry.
Q magazine named her one of the top 100 acts of the last century.
As of March 1, 2011, her official Vevo page had over 1.2 billion YouTube views.
FHM, Maxim, and Esquire have named her among the sexiest women in the world; Esquire named her Sexiest Woman Alive in 2011.
She has sold 62 million records since 2005, making her the most successful artist over the last decade.
According to Forbes magazine, she made an estimated $15,000,000 in a given year.
She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School in Bridgetown, Barbados.
She sampled Michael Jackson’s Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ in her 2007 song Don’t Stop the Music.
She has appeared on the cover of Vogue Italia for their Extreme Couture edition.
She was upset she missed Katy Perry’s wedding due to her recording schedule; she had planned Perry’s bachelorette party.
A self-confessed Star Trek fan, she released the single Sledgehammer in 2016 to promote Star Trek Beyond; its music video was the first recorded entirely with IMAX cameras.
In a Harper’s Bazaar article, she said she watched horror movies and professional wrestling as a child, favoring the Undertaker.
With 14 Billboard Hot 100 number one hits, she has more than any contemporary artist; five more would tie Mariah Carey, seven more would break The Beatles’ record.
She is a fan of the TV series Breaking Bad and Bates Motel, and her father introduced her to Star Trek while growing up.
Celebrities who have copied her tattoos include Lena Dunham, Chris Brown, and Drake; many fans have replicas of her sternum tattoo.
She was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Drake from 2009 to 2016; they met when she shot the video for Pon de Replay in Toronto.
In 2017, she received the Peter J. Gomes Humanitarian Award from Harvard University; former President Barack Obama praised her work at her Diamond Ball.
In 2018, the Government of Barbados appointed her Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to promote education, tourism, and investment.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Rihanna.
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