Rihanna
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This article is about the Barbadian singer. For other uses, see Rihanna (disambiguation).
| Rihanna | |
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Rihanna performing during the Diamonds World Tour in 2013
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| Born | Robyn Rihanna Fenty February 20, 1988 Saint Michael, Barbados |
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| Years active | 2005–present |
| Net worth | US $90 million (est. 2013)[1] |
| Website | rihannanow |
| Musical career | |
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Robyn Rihanna Fenty (born February 20, 1988), known professionally as Rihanna (/riˈænə/ ree-an-ə),[4][5] is aBarbadian singer, actress, songwriter and fashion designer. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, her career began upon meeting record producer Evan Rogers in late 2003 through mutual friends; she recorded demo tapes with his guidance. Her tape was sent to several record labels, and she subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for its then-president, hip-hop producer and rapper Jay-Z. Both her debut album, Music of the Sun (2005) and its follow-up A Girl Like Me (2006) peaked in the top ten on the US Billboard 200; the former featured the commercially successful song "Pon de Replay" while the latter produced her first Billboard Hot 100 number-one single, "SOS".
She rose to widespread prominence and became a household name with the release of her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), and its chart-topping lead single "Umbrella." The album and its 2008 Reloaded re-release were nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella". From 2009 to 2012, following a highly publicized altercation with then-boyfriend, entertainer Chris Brown, she annually released four Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) platinum certified albums: Rated R (2009), Loud (2010), Talk That Talk (2011), and her first Billboard 200 number one album Unapologetic (2012). The same year, she appeared in her first theatrical feature film, Battleship.
Rihanna has sold over 41 million albums and 150 million songs worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time.[6] Many of her songs rank among the world's best-selling singles of all time, such as "Umbrella", "Take a Bow", "Disturbia", "Only Girl (In the World)", "S&M", "We Found Love", "Diamonds" and "Stay". In addition to her solo work, Rihanna has collaborated with other artists and was featured on the worldwide hits "Can't Remember to Forget You" (with Shakira), "Live Your Life" (with T.I.), "Run This Town" (with Jay-Z and Kanye West), "Love the Way You Lie" and "The Monster" (both with Eminem). She has achieved thirteen number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the youngest and fastest solo artist to accomplish this record. Billboard named her the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade and the top Hot 100 artist of the 2010s decade.[7][8][9]
Rihanna is known for frequently reinventing her style and image, most notably since Good Girl Gone Bad.[10][11] Her work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including eight Grammy Awards,[1] eight American Music Awards, 23 Billboard Music Awards, and two BRIT Awards. In 2012, Forbes ranked her the fourth most powerful celebrity of the year, with earnings of $53 million between May 2011 and May 2012. The same year, TIME named Rihanna one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. At the American Music Awards of 2013, she received the first ever Icon Award. On June 2, 2014, Rihanna received the Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).[12]
Contents
[hide]Early life
Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados. Her mother, Monica Braithwaite, is a retired accountant of Afro-Guyanese background, and her father, Ronald Fenty, is a warehouse supervisor of Barbadian andIrish descent.[13][14] Rihanna has two brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty, and two half-sisters and a half-brother from her father's side, each born to different mothers from his previous relationships.[15][16] She grew up in a three-bedroom bungalow in Bridgetown and sold clothes with her father in a stall on the street. Rihanna's childhood was deeply affected by her father's addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol. By the time she was fourteen, her parents had divorced.[14][17] Rihanna grew up listening to reggae music and began singing at around the age of seven.[15][18] She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School and Combermere High School, where she studied alongside future England cricketer Chris Jordan and formed a musical trio with two of her classmates.[15] Rihanna was an army cadet in a sub-military programme; the singer-songwriter Shontelle was her drill sergeant.[19] Although she initially wanted to graduate from high school, she chose to pursue a musical career instead.[20]
Career
2003–04: Career beginnings
Before signing to Def Jam Recordings, Rihanna was discovered in her home country Barbados by American record producer Evan Rogers. The two met in December 2003 through mutual friends of Rihanna's and Rogers' wife, while the couple was on vacation in Barbados, because Rihanna's friend told Rogers' wife that the aspiring singer was always singing and performing.[3] After meeting for the first time, Rogers' asked Rihanna to come to his hotel room, where she performed renditions of Destiny's Child's "Emotion" and Mariah Carey's "Hero". Rihanna's renditions impressed Rogers, who then took her to New York, accompanied by her mother, to record some demo tapes which could be sent to record labels.[3][21] She recorded the demo over the next year intermittently, due to Rihanna only being able to record during school holidays.
At the age of 16, Rihanna was signed to Rogers' and Carl Sturken's production company, Syndicated Rhythm Productions, who assigned her a lawyer and manager, before the completed demo tape were distributed to various record labels around the world in late 2004.[21] The first to respond to the demo tape was Jay-Z, who had recently been appointed as president and Chief executive officer (CEO) of Def Jam Recordings.[22] He was given Rihanna's demo by A&R Jay Brown, but when Jay-Z heard the track "Pon de Replay", he felt the song was too big for her, saying "when a song is that big, it's hard [for a new artist] to come back from. I don't sign songs, I sign artists".[23] Despite being skeptical about signing Rihanna, he invited her to audition for him and music mogul L.A. Reid, in his office.[21][24] Looking back on the audition and meeting Jay-Z, Rihanna explained in an interview how she felt before walking into the room, saying: "That's when I really got nervous..... I was like: 'Oh God, he's right there, I can't look, I can't look, I can't look!' I remember being extremely quiet. I was very shy. I was cold the entire time. I had butterflies. I'm sitting across from Jay-Z. Like, Jay-Zee. I was star-struck."[21] During the audition, Rihanna performed Whitney Houston's cover of "For the Love of You", as well as "Pon de Replay" and "The Last Time", which were written and produced by Rogers and Sturken and would be included on her debut album Music of the Sun.[21]
The audition resulted in Rihanna signing a six-album record deal with Def Jam in February 2005, on the same day of the audition to prevent her from signing with another label, with Jay-Z saying "There's only two ways out. Out the door after you sign this deal. Or through this window ...".[21] After signing to Def Jam, Rihanna cancelled other meetings with record labels and relocated from Barbados to New York to live with Rogers and his wife.[25] In May 2005, she appeared on the track "The One" with rapper Memphis Bleek on his fourth studio album 534 and released her debut single, "Pon de Replay", which charted successfully worldwide, peaking in the top five in fifteen countries, including at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart.[26]
2005–08: Early releases and Good Girl Gone Bad
Rihanna worked with different producers to complete her debut studio album, primarily Rogers and his production partner Carl Sturken.[27] Music of the Sun, was released in August 2005. It debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 and received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over 500,000 units.[28] The album sold over two million copies worldwide. It received mixed reviews; Rolling Stone gave it two and a half out of five stars and described as lacking replay value, ingenuity, and rhythm.[29] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the album as a "glut of teen R&B chanteuses" and described her lead single as "a dancehall-pop mixture that owes plenty of its sweat and shimmy to Beyoncé's "Baby Boy".[27] A second single, "If It's Lovin' that You Want", was not as successful as its predecessor, but reached the top ten in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand.[30]
Aside from her work in music, Rihanna made her acting debut in a cameo role in the straight-to-DVD film Bring It On: All or Nothing, released in August 2006.[31] A month after the release of her debut album, Rihanna began working on her second studio album.[32] A Girl Like Me was released in April 2006.[33] The album was a commercial success, charting in the top ten in thirteen countries. The album reached number one in Canada and number five in the United Kingdom and United States, where it sold 115,000 copies its first week.[28][34] Its lead single, "SOS", was an international success, charting in the top five in eleven countries, including Canada, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and in Australia, her first to reach this chart position.[35] "Unfaithful", the album's second single, reached the top ten in eighteen countries, including number one in Canada and Switzerland.[36] "We Ride" and "Break It Off", the latter featuring Sean Paul, were also released as singles.[37][38] Following the release of the album, Rihanna embarked on her first headlining tour, the Rihanna: Live in Concert Tour.
In early 2007, Rihanna began work on her third studio album.[39] For her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna embraced a new musical direction through uptempo dance tracks produced by Timbaland, will.i.am and Sean Garrett.[40][41] Released in May 2007, the album charted at number two in Australia and the US and topped the charts in multiple countries, including Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Russia and the UK.[42] The album received the most positive critical reviews of her first three albums.[43] The lead single, "Umbrella", topped the charts in thirteen countries and remained number one in the UK for ten consecutive weeks, the longest-running number one single since Wet Wet Wet's single "Love Is All Around" spent fifteen weeks at the top in 1994.[44][45] It was Rihanna's first single to be named one of the best-selling singles worldwide, with sales of over 6.6 million copies.[46][47] The songs "Shut Up and Drive", "Hate That I Love You" featuring Ne-Yo, and "Don't Stop The Music" were also released as singles. In support of the album, she began the Good Girl Gone Bad Tour in September 2007, with 80 shows across the US, Canada, and Europe.[48] Rihanna was nominated for several 2008 Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella" alongside Jay-Z.[49]
Throughout 2008, Rihanna performed on the Glow in the Dark Tour alongside Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and N.E.R.D.[50] Her third studio album's reissue, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, was released in June 2008 with three new songs: "Disturbia", "Take a Bow", and the Maroon 5 duet "If I Never See Your Face Again". All three were released as singles and charted highly, reaching peak positions worldwide.[51][52][53] In August 2008, Rihanna and a host of other female singers, recorded the charity single "Just Stand Up!", the theme song to the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer.[54] "Live Your Life", a duet between T.I. and Rihanna, released that November, and topped the Billboard Hot 100. A remix album, Good Girl Gone Bad: The Remixes, was released in January 2009. Good Girl Gone Bad has sold over 2.8 million units in the United States alone, receiving a two-times-platinum certification from the RIAA. It is Rihanna's best-selling album in the country to date.[28][55]The album has sold over seven million copies worldwide.[56] By late 2008, Rihanna remained on the charts with her eighth single, "Rehab" and was named "Diva of the Year" by Entertainment Weekly for her "newfound staying power".[57]
2009–11: Rated R, Loud and Talk That Talk
In early 2009, Rihanna began working on her fourth studio album, Rated R.[58] Meanwhile, she collaborated with Jay-Z and Kanye West on "Run This Town", which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the top ten in ten other countries.[59] Rated R was released in November 2009 with Rolling Stonestating that Rihanna "transformed her sound and made one of the best pop records of the year".[60][61] Rated R featured a darker and more foreboding tone than Rihanna's previous albums.[62] Rated R debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 181,000 copies in the United States, giving Rihanna her highest first-week sales in the US at that time.[63][64][65] The album was supported by six singles including "Rude Boy", which was the biggest worldwide success from the album, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and reaching top ten positions in twenty-two other countries.[66][67] Rated R: Remixed was released in the spring of 2010 and featured ten tracks remixed by Chew Fu.[68] To promote the album, Rihanna embarked on her second worldwide tour, the Last Girl on Earth Tour.[69] At the 52nd Grammy Awards, "Run This Town" won Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.[70]
In summer 2010, Rihanna collaborated with rapper Eminem on "Love the Way You Lie", which was a major worldwide success, reaching number one in over twenty countries.[71] The song was Rihanna's seventh US number one of her career, making her the female artist with the fifth-most number ones in the chart's history.[72]Reaching number two, the song became the biggest-selling song of 2010 in the UK, and the first of Rihanna's singles to sell over one million copies in the country.[73][74] She also lent her vocals to "All of the Lights", a single from Kanye West's album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, alongside John Legend, The-Dream, Elly Jackson, Alicia Keys, Fergie, Kid Cudi, and Elton John.[75] In October 2010, Rihanna switched managers, joining Jay-Z's Roc Nation Management.[76]
Loud, Rihanna's fifth studio album, was released the following month.[77] Its lead single, "Only Girl (In the World)", reached number one in fifteen countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[78][79][80] The album's second single, "What's My Name?", featuring rapper Drake, also reached number one in the US and UK, making Rihanna the first female solo artist to have five number one singles on the UK Singles Chart in consecutive years.[81] The song reached number one on the BillboardHot 100 before "Only Girl (In the World)", the first time in the chart's history that an album's lead single reached number one after the second.[82] The third single, "S&M", reached number one on the Hot 100 following the release of its official remix featuring Britney Spears, becoming her tenth number one single, which tied her with Janet Jackson for fourth place among female soloists who have topped the chart. With only four years, eleven months, and two weeks between her first and tenth number one on the chart, Rihanna set a record as the solo artist with the fastest accumulation of ten chart toppers.[83]
At the 53rd Grammy Awards, "Only Girl (In the World)" won the award for Best Dance Recording.[84] "Man Down" and "California King Bed" were released as singles in May 2011 with moderate success.[85][86] "Cheers (Drink to That)", which interpolates Avril Lavigne's 2002 single "I'm with You", was released as the sixth and final single from the album, reaching the top twenty in the UK and the top ten in the US.[87] To promote the album, Rihanna embarked on her Loud Tour in June 2011, which sold out ten nights at the The O2Arena in London, the most sold out shows for a female artist in the venue's history.[88][89] The tour was the seventh highest grossing tour worldwide of 2011.[90] The final three shows in London were filmed for Rihanna's second live video album, titled Loud Tour Live at the O2, which was released on December 18, 2012.[91][92]
Rihanna's sixth album, Talk That Talk, was released in November 2011.[93] The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with sales of 198,000 copies[94]and number one in the UK, selling 163,000 copies. The lead single, "We Found Love", topped charts in twenty-seven countries worldwide, peaking in the top ten in thirty countries and breaking many records worldwide.[95] It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for ten non-consecutive weeks, becoming Rihanna's longest-running number one single and the longest-running number one of 2011.[96][97] The song was later named the 24th biggest hit of all time on the Billboard Hot 100.[5] "You Da One" and the titular track featuring Jay-Z were released as the second and third singles from the album to moderate success, the former reaching the top twenty in the UK and US.[98][99] "Where Have You Been", the fifth single, successfully charted worldwide, reaching number five in the US and six in the UK.[100][101] "Cockiness (Love It)" was released as the album's sixth and final single in a remixed form featuring rapper ASAP Rocky.[102]
2012–14: Collaborations, Battleship and Unapologetic
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In early 2012, two collaborations featuring Rihanna were released: Coldplay's "Princess of China" from the album Mylo Xyloto and Drake's "Take Care" from his album of the same name.[103][104] In February 2012, Rihanna won her third Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2012 Grammy Awards, and was voted the Best International Female Solo Artist at the 2012 BRIT Awards for the second consecutive year.[105][106] March 2012 saw the simultaneous release of collaborations between Rihanna and Chris Brown: remixes of her song "Birthday Cake" and his "Turn Up the Music". The recordings received mainly negative responses due to the pair's history of domestic violence.[107] In September 2012, "We Found Love" won the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year, making Rihanna the first woman to receive the accolade more than once.[108]
Rihanna starred as Petty Officer (GM2) Cora Raikes in her first theatrical feature film Battleship, which was released on May 18, 2012.[109] Loosely based on the game of the same name, both the film and Rihanna's performance received mixed-to-negative reviews; The New York Times said she was "just fine in the rather generic role".[110] She received a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress[111] and, on a more positive note, a Teen Choice Award.[112] She appeared in Katy Perry: Part of Me, a 3D autobiographical documentary-concert film about her friend Katy Perry. On August 19, 2012, Rihanna appeared in the first episode of the second season of Oprah Winfrey's American prime time television show Oprah's Next Chapter.[113] The episode scored the second-highest ratings in the history of the Oprah Winfrey Network.[114]
Rihanna's seventh studio album, Unapologetic, was released in November 2012.[115] In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 238,000, marking Rihanna's first number one album in the country. In addition, it was the best-selling debut week of her career, besting her fifth studio albumLoud (2010).[116] The album was Rihanna's third consecutive number one album in the United Kingdom and fifth in Switzerland.[117][118] The lead single from the album, "Diamonds", reached number one in more than twenty countries worldwide, including on the US Billboard Hot 100, her twelfth number one on the chart which tied her with Madonna and The Supremes as the artists' with the fourth most number ones on the chart's history.[119] The album's second single, "Stay", featuringMikky Ekko, reached the top five in over twenty countries, including number three on the Billboard Hot 100.[120] As promotion prior to the album's release, Rihanna embarked on the 777 Tour, a mini tour of seven shows in seven countries in seven days.[121] A documentary DVD of the tour was later released.
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In February 2013 at the 55th Grammy Awards, Rihanna won her sixth Grammy Award, in the category Best Short Form Music Video for "We Found Love" (2011).[122] Also that month, the Official Charts Company announced that Rihanna had sold 3,868,000 records in the past year in the UK alone, ranking at number one in the list of 2013 BRIT Awards artist nominees.[117] Rihanna's fifth headlining concert tour, the Diamonds World Tour, began in March 2013 in support ofUnapologetic.[123] Rihanna appeared in the Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg comedy film This Is the End, released in June 2013.[124] That same month, American hip hop artist Wale released a remixed version of his single "Bad" featuring Rihanna.[125]
In October 2013, Eminem released his Rihanna-assisted single, "The Monster", the fourth release from his eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013). With the song entering the UK Singles Chart at number one, Rihanna joined Elvis Presley and The Beatles as just one of three acts to have scored a number one single each year over seven consecutive years in the chart's history.[126] The song also peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which marked Rihanna's thirteenth chart topper, tying her with Michael Jackson for the third most number ones in the chart's 55-year history.[127] The song won them a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. Rihanna appeared on Shakira's single, "Can't Remember to Forget You", which was released as the first single from Shakira's album on January 13, 2014.[128] In May 2014, Rihanna left Def Jam to sign fully with Roc Nation, who had managed her career since October 2010.[129]
2015: Home and eighth studio album
News of Rihanna's work on her eighth studio album began in 2014.[130] The first single from the album, "FourFiveSeconds", featuring Kanye West and Paul McCartney, was released on January 24, 2015.[131] West revealed that he is the executive producer for Rihanna's eighth studio album during the 57th Annual Grammy Awards red carpet.[132] She also released a concept album based around the 3D animated film Home,[133] which she starred in, alongside Jim Parsons,Steve Martin and Jennifer Lopez. "Towards the Sun" was released as the first single from the Home soundtrack on February 24.[134] On March 5, Rihanna released a snippet of a track called "Higher", but didn't confirm its origin.[135]
She later released the second single from her eighth studio album "Bitch Better Have My Money", performing it for the first time at the 2nd iHeartRadio Music Awardson March 29, 2015.[136] Another song entitled "American Oxygen" debuted on Tidal on April 5, 2015. The song will reportedly be featured on her upcoming album.[137][138] Rihanna also posted an interlude entitled "James Joint" in its entirety from the upcoming album on her website on April 21, 2015, as a "celebration of420".[139] While modeling in a Dior Secret Garden advertisement, Rihanna teased a 1-minute clip of a song called "Only If For A Night" that is allegedly on her upcoming studio album.[140]
On July 1, 2015 the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that Rihanna had surpassed more than 100 million Gold & Platinum song certifications. In doing so Rihanna has the most Digital Single Awards and is the first and only artist to surpass RIAA’s 100 million cumulative singles award threshold.[141]
Artistry
Music and voice
While recording tracks for her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), Rihanna took vocal lessons from Ne-Yo. Speaking of the experience she stated, "I've never had vocal training, so when I'm in the studio, he'll tell me how to breathe and stuff... He'll call out these big fancy words: 'OK, I want you to do staccato.' And I'm like, 'OK, I don't know what that is.'"[41] Her vocal performance on Loud (2010) received positive reviews from music critics. James Skinner from BBC praised Rihanna's vocals on the song "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" and wrote that her voice is powerful and that "it is Rihanna's vocal – at once commanding, soulful and vulnerable – that anchors the song, and Loud itself".[142] Andy Gill from The Independent feels that "California King Bed" features her best vocal performance.[143] In a review of Unapologetic, Billboard magazine wrote, "Diamonds finds Rihanna doing one of her throatiest, most impassioned vocals to date, on this inspirational pop ballad."[144] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times stated, "over the years, as her game face froze in place, her voice cured into a weapon of emotional chill and strategic indifference. It's decidedly unfriendly, made to give orders".[145] Volume 65 of the Contemporary Black Biography book series notes that "Rihanna is the rare rhythm and blues diva to emerge from the Caribbean world."[146]
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