Rihanna

Robin Rihanna Fenty's full name is Rihanna. Rihanna was born in St. Michael, Barbados to Ronald and Monica Fenty. She has two younger brothers, Rory and Rajad.

She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Elementary School in Barbados, then transferred to Combermere School, where she formed a musical trio with two of her classmates. In 2004, she won the school's Miss Combermere Beauty Pageant.

In 2003, along with her girl band, Rihanna was introduced to music producer Evan Rogers. As Rogers himself notes, the minute Rihanna appeared in the room, it felt as if the other two band members simply did not exist. Together with his partner Carl Starken, he helped make Rihanna's demos and send them out to various record companies. Jay-Z eventually signed Rihanna to the Def Jam Recordings label.

Rihanna is the second artist and the first singer from Barbados to win a Grammy Award (for the song "Umbrella" in 2008). As of October 2008, she has topped the Billboard Hot 100 five times (singles "SOS", "Umbrella", "Take a Bow", "Disturbia", "Live Your Life").

Rihanna became widely known in 2005 for the song "Pon de Replay" from her debut album Music of the Sun. Later that year, her second album, "A Girl Like Me" was released, bringing her first number one single in the United States, "SOS". In 2007, Rihanna released her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad, which in turn yielded six hits, four of which reached the top of the charts worldwide - "Umbrella", "Don't Stop the Music", "Take a Bow" and "Disturbia".

On June 17th, 2008 the re-release of Rihanna's third album Good Girl Gone Bad is released, it contains three singles such as "Take a Bow", which became a number one hit around the world, a duet with Maroon 5 band "If I Never See Your Face Again," and "Disturbia," the latter of which also reaches the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it the singer's fourth hit to reach number one and ninth to reach the top ten in the United States. The song "Rehab," featuring Justin Timberlake, was released on October 7, 2008 and reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Good Girl Gone Bad disc sold over 6.2 million copies worldwide and went twice platinum in the US, 4 in the UK and Canada, 5 in Russia, and 6 in Ireland; including Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded.

On November 23, Rihanna was nominated in two categories at the American Music Awards (Best Pop/Rock Female Artist/R&B Female Artist). Rihanna won both nominations, ending up with 3 AMA awards. Rihanna also performed the song "Rehab" on the AMA stage.

Rihanna was invited by the Gucci brand to participate in their charity campaign under the auspices of UNICEF. She appeared in the Tattoo Heart fashion house held in December. The singer starred in a small commercial for the fashion house, and a quarter of the proceeds from this campaign will go to the Children's Defense Fund. In New York, Rihanna, just like Madonna, was chosen by Gucci's Frida Giannini to light the Christmas snowflake for UNICEF. Dressed head-to-toe in Gucci clothing, she is now the face of Gucci's fourth annual campaign, benefiting UNICEF, which seeks to replenish the fund to protect children in Africa with funds from the sale of their collection bags.

On February 8, 2009, Rihanna's performance at the annual Grammy Music Awards was canceled. According to official reports, it became known that there was a serious altercation between the singer and her ex-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, that night. Brown was arrested on suspicion of committing criminal acts. On March 5, 2009, Chris Brown was charged with assault and criminal mischief. An internet photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department and published by TMZ.com - showing the apparent beating Rihanna sustained - shows the public exactly what happened the night of February 8, 2009. Rihanna was subpoenaed to testify during a preliminary hearing in the June 22, 2009 case in Los Angeles. "She will appear in court, and if she is asked to testify, she will do so," Rihanna's attorney, Donald Etra, told Us Weekly. On June 22, 2009, Chris Brown pleaded guilty to criminal assault. Through remorse, Brown received a five-year suspended sentence; he was also ordered to stay fifty yards away from Rihanna, with the distance reduced to ten yards during public events.

For the first time since the February events, Rihanna appeared as a central character in Kanye West's "Paranoid" music video. She also collaborated with Jay-Z and Kanye West to perform the song "Run This Town," which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and also reached high positions in ten countries. The song won two Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Collaboration, making it three Grammy Awards to Rihanna's credit. The trio performed "Run This Town" at the "Answer the Call" concert at Madison Square Garden in September 2009, Rihanna's first live performance since the Chris Brown incident.

The singer's fourth studio album, Rated R, was released on November 23, 2009. Rolling Stone magazine praised the album, stating that "Rihanna has transformed her sound with one of the best albums of the year." Rated R debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart and received platinum status from the Recording Industry Association of America for selling one million copies. The first three singles from the album, "Russian Roulette", "Hard" and "Rude Boy" reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with "Rude Boy" reaching number one, becoming the sixth #1 single in the United States. The song also reached number two on the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland charts. On April 5, 2010, dates were announced for Rihanna's international tour in support of the new album, Last Girl on Earth Tour, which kicked off on April 16, 2010. In January 2010, Rihanna won two Barbados Music Awards for Song of the Decade (Umbrella) and Artist of the Decade. Rihanna also won "Singer of the Year" at the 2010 NRJ Music Awards.

Rihanna released two more singles from Rated R: the fourth, "Rockstar 101," released only in the United States, hit the Billboard Hot Dance/Club Songs chart, reaching number four; and the last, fifth international single, "Te amo," reached number fourteen on the UK chart, and also entered the Top 20 on eleven charts worldwide. At the 2010 BET Awards Rihanna and Young Jeezy won the Audience Choice Award for "Hard". In the summer of 2010, Rihanna duoed with Eminem to record "Love The Way You Lie", which was included on the rapper's seventh studio album, Recovery. The song debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, and within two weeks reached number one, becoming Rihanna's seventh #1, making her the singer with the most #1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1999. The song also hit #1 on the charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, as well as the UK R&B Chart, and the US Digital Songs Chart. "Love The Way You Lie" became Rihanna's sixth #1 hit on the U.S. "Pop Songs Chart," putting her on par with Mariah Carey, Beyonce and Lady Gaga.

In April 2010, David Guetta included a short clip of his new collaboration with Rihanna in his NRJ radio interview. It was later revealed that Rihanna is recording her fifth studio album, which will be released in the second half of 2010 after the North American branch of the Last Girl on Earth Tour. In addition to David Guetta, such celebrities as Taio Cruz, Alex da Kid, Sean Garrett and Ne-Yo are working on the album. According to Rihanna, the album will be "strong, fun and daring". In mid-August 2010, Rihanna announced a collaboration with Optus Mobile, the mobile company sponsoring the Australian branch of the Last Girl on Earth Tour. In the near future, Rihanna is releasing her book, which will see the light of day in September 2010, and will also star in the Peter Berg film, "Battleship", which was released in 2012.