Rihanna celebrates her birthday today (February 20) but how much do you know about the record-breaking singer?
Rihanna has been a global singing sensation for more than 20 years, her debut album Music of the Sun, which included the single Pon de Replay were global hits and established the then-teenager as a star.
Since then, Rihanna has released a string of hit albums and has become a record-breaking artist. She has also turned her hand to business with arguably even more success.
But as she celebrates her 38th birthday, how much do you know about Rihanna? Here are some facts you might not know.
Rihanna started out in a group – briefly
Rihanna was born and brought up in Barbados. During childhood, she showed an interest in poetry and was regarded as a well-behaved student who avoided trouble.
In 2003, aged 15, Rihanna formed a music trio with two classmates, and they got an audition with US producer Evan Rogers, who immediately recognised Rihanna’s star potential, and swiftly organised another audition – but just for her and not her friends. Soon after, Rogers invited Rihanna to Connecticut to record some demos – one of which was ‘Pon de Reply’, which would become her first hit.
LA Reid was so impressed he wouldn’t let her leave without a contract
Rihanna’s demo was sent to Jay-Z, who was impressed and invited her to audition for him and music executive Antonio ‘LA’ Reid in New York. Rihanna sung various songs – including Pon de Replay and both men were impressed, with LA Reid apparently telling Jay-Z to not let her leave the building without a record deal. So Rihanna sat in Jay-Z’s office, waiting for the lawyers to write up a six-album deal with Def Jam.
Shortly after, and having turned 16, Rihanna moved to the US to record her debut album. She also completed her high school education with a private tutor.
Rihanna is a hugely successful businesswoman
In the past 15 years or so, Rihanna has been more than a recording artist. She has endorsed various products over the years including Kodak, Nivea and Budweiser, which has paid well.
In 2011, she launched her first fragrance, Reb’l Fleur, which was a huge success and was followed by several others.
In 2017, Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty, a cosmetics line, in which she held a 50% stake. It stood out as it offered shades catering for all skin tones, which many didn’t at the time.
Rihanna has also long been involved in fashion, including being creative director for Puma’s women’s line, launching her own lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty, fashion brand Fenty in 2019.
She has an RIAA record
Rihanna has been hugely successful ever since her debut track in 2005 and is estimated to have sold more than 250 million records over that time. She is the highest-certified female digital single artist of all time, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. In all, she has had 14 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 – and seven of those have been diamond certified.
Rihanna also has nine Grammy Awards and 13 American Music Awards, among a host of award wins all over the world.
Rihanna set a billionaire record
With Rihanna’s success as a recording artist, as well as in the world of fashion and fragrance, she has amassed a huge fortune. Indeed, she became the first female recording artists to be recognised as a billionaire.
Today, she is one of six people in the music business to be a billionaire in terms of net worth. Others on the list include Taylor Swift – who has overtaken Rihanna in terms of net worth to be the richest female musician, and Jay-Z.
She has set up a charitable foundation
Rihanna has been engaged in philanthropy almost as long as she has been a successful recording artist – she founded the Believe Foundation to support terminally ill children in 2006.
In 2012, she established the Clara Lionel Foundation – named after her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite. The foundation provides funds for groundbreaking education and emergency preparedness and response programs across the world. This included a donation of $15 million for 18 climate justice organizations in 2022.
