Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( /riˈɑːnə/ ree-AH-nə or /riˈænə/ ree-AN-ə; born February 20, 1988), known mononymously as Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist and actress. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at age 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers. She subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings.[1] In 2005, Rihanna released her debut studio album, Music of the Sun, which peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart and features the Billboard Hot 100 top five hit single "Pon de Replay". In less than a year, she released her second studio album, A Girl Like Me (2006), which peaked within the top-five in the United States, and produced her first Hot 100 number one single, "SOS". Rihanna's third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad released in May 2007, spawned the international hit singles "Umbrella", "Don't Stop the Music", "Take a Bow" and "Dis! turbia", with an additional four singles being released . The album was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella". Her fourth studio album Rated R (2009), produced the top-ten singles "Russian Roulette", "Hard" and "Rude Boy", with the latter achieving the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Loud (2010), Rihanna's fifth studio album, spawned the number-one hits "Only Girl (In the World)", "What's My Name?" and "S&M". "We Found Love" served as the lead single from Rihanna's sixth studio album, Talk That Talk (2011). The song was an international success, topping the charts in more than twenty countries. Rihanna's work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including five American Music Awards, eighteen Billboard Music Awards, two BRIT Awards and five Grammy Awards. She has achieved a total of eleven number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the youngest solo artist to achieve the feat.[! 2] Billboard named Rihanna the Digital Songs Artist of the 200! 0s decade, and ranked her as the seventeenth artist of the same decade.[3][4] She is the highest-selling digital artist in US history, having sold 47,571,000 singles as of 2012.[5] Furthermore, she has also shipped 7.3 million album units in the United States as of September 2011.[6] Some of her singles have earned their place on the list of best-selling singles worldwide. Rihanna has sold more than 25 million albums and 60 million singles worldwide since the beginning of her career in 2005, which makes her one of the best selling artists of all time.[7] In June 2011, Forbes reported that Rihanna had earned $29 million between May 2010 and May 2011.[8] In 2012, American magazine Time named Rihanna one of the most influential people in the world.[9] Rihanna was also ranked the fourth most powerful celebrity in 2012 with earnings of $53 million between May 2011 and May 2012, according to Forbes.[10] Contents 1 Biography 1.1 1988–2004: Early life and career beginnings 1.2 20! 05–07: Music of the Sun and A Girl Like Me 1.3 2007–09: Good Girl Gone Bad and re-release 1.4 2009–10: Domestic violence case and Rated R 1.5 2010–11: Loud 1.6 2011-present: Talk That Talk and film debut 2 Artistry 2.1 Music and voice 2.2 Influences 2.3 Public image 3 Discography 4 Filmography 5 Tours 6 Awards and nominations 7 See also 8 References 9 External links Biography 1988–2004: Early life and career beginnings Rihanna grew up in the town of Bridgetown, Barbados.[11] Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados. Her mother is Monica Braithwaite, a retired Afro-Guyanese accountant, and her father is Ronald Fenty, a warehouse supervisor of Barbadian and Irish descent.[12][13] Rihanna has two brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty, and two half-sisters and a half-brother from her father's side, each born by different mothers from his previous relationships.[14][15][16] Growing up in a three-bedroom bungalow in Bridgetown and selling! clothes with her father on a street stall, Rihanna's childhood was dee! ply affected by her father's addiction to crack cocaine, alcohol, and marijuana, and her parents' turbulent marriage ended when she was 14.[17][13][11] Rihanna grew up listening to reggae music and began singing at around the age of seven.[18][14] She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School and then the Combermere High School, where she formed a musical trio with two of her classmates.[14] 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] Rihanna's career began through her association with American record producer Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers; she met Rogers through mutual friends in Barbados in December 2003.[21] Rogers soon asked Rihanna to come to his hotel room, where she performed renditions of the songs "Emotion" and "Hero".[21] This impressed Rogers, who then took her on various ! trips to New York, where she was accompanied by her mother, Monica, to record some demo tapes which could be sent to record labels.[21][22] Rihanna was signed to Rogers' and Sturken's production company, Syndicated Rhythm Productions, who assigned her a lawyer and manager before the completed demo tape was distributed to various record labels around the world in late 2004.[22] In February 2005, the president and CEO of Def Jam Recordings Jay-Z requested to meet Rihanna and she auditioned for him and industry executive L.A. Reid, performing Whitney Houston's version of "For the Love of You" as well as the original songs "Pon de Replay" and "The Last Time".[22][23] On the same day of the audition, Rihanna signed a six-album record deal with Def Jam Recordings, later relocating from Barbados to New York to live with Rogers and his wife.[24][22] 2005–07: Music of the Sun and A Girl Like Me Rihanna performing at the Jingle Ball in 2005 Following her signing, Rihanna spent thre! e months recording and completing her debut album and collaborated with! rapper Memphis Bleek on his fourth studio album 534.[1] The album featured production from Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken, Stargate and Poke & Tone.[25] Her debut single, "Pon de Replay", was released on August 22 2005 and charted highly across the world, peaking at number two on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart.[26] Her debut album, Music of the Sun, was first released later that month and went on to sell over two million copies worldwide and received a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over 500,000 units to retailers in the United States.[27] The album received mixed reviews by music critics. Rolling Stone magazine gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and described as lacking the replay value, ingenuity and rhythm of the single with "generic vocal hiccups and frills" of US R&B inflecting upon her "Caribbean charm".[28] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the album as a "glut of teen R&! B chanteuses " and described her lead single "Pon de Replay" as "a dancehall-pop mixture that owes plenty of its sweat and shimmy to Beyoncé's "Baby Boy".[25] A second single, "If It's Lovin' that You Want", was not as successful as its predecessor.[29] In October 2005, Rihanna struck an endorsement deal with Secret Body Spray; her first of many.[30] A month after the release of her debut album, she began working on her second studio album.[31] The album contained production from Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken, Stargate, J. R. Rotem and label-mate singer-songwriter Ne-Yo.[32] A Girl Like Me was released in April 2006, less than eight months after its predecessor.[33] Its lead single, "SOS", was an international success following its March 2006 release as it charted in the top five in Canada, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom and reached number one in the U.S. and Australia.[34] Critical response to the album was mixed; Rolling Stone magazine commented ! "Like her filler-packed debut album, this similar but superior follow-u! p doesn't deliver anything else as ingenious as its lead single."[35] The album entered charts across the world, peaking at number one in Canada and at number five in both the UK and the U.S., where it sold 115,000 copies in its first week.[36][27] "Unfaithful", the album's second single release, charted in various territories, reaching number one in Portugal, Canada and Switzerland.[37] "We Ride" and "Break It Off", which featured Sean Paul, were also released as singles.[38][39] Following the release of the album, Rihanna embarked on her first headlining tour, the Rihanna: Live in Concert Tour, as well as supporting The Pussycat Dolls on the PCD World Tour and performing alongside Jay-Z and Ne-Yo on the Rock Tha Block Tour. Rihanna created her Believe Foundation in 2006 to help terminally ill children.[40][41] She also made her acting debut in a cameo role in the straight-to-DVD film Bring It On: All or Nothing, which was released on August 8, 2006.[42] 2007–09: Good Gi! rl Gone Bad and re-release Rihanna performing at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in 2008 For her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna embraced a new musical direction through uptempo dance tracks produced by the likes of Timbaland, will.i.am and Sean Garrett.[43][44] First released in May 2007, the album topped the charts in multiple countries including the UK, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Japan, Russia and at number two in the US and Australia.[45] The album received positive reviews by critics, becoming the most critically acclaimed of her first three albums.[46] The album's lead single, "Umbrella", topped the charts in thirteen countries and stayed at number one in the UK for ten consecutive weeks; this made it the longest-running number one single since Wet Wet Wet's single "Love Is All Around" spent fifteen weeks at
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Robyn Rihanna Fenty, known mononymously as Rihanna, is a Barbadian recording artist and actress. Born in Saint Micha! el, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States Read the rest
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