Get to know the Barbadian singer
Author: Georgie HollandPublished 11th Jun 2024
Queen Riri…where to begin! Born on 20th February 1988, fresh-faced Robyn Rihanna Fenty was just 16-years-old she began her journey to super-stardom. Since then, she’s proven to us all that the sky is the limit when it comes to her talents, even performing at the Super Bowl 2023 while pregnant with her second baby – who she welcomed later in the year!
From singing to songwriting, collaborating to hit-making, acting to make-up, there’s no limit to what this mum can do! As the world patiently waits for her “worth the wait” ninth album, the singer made her music comeback with ‘Lift Me Up’ in 2022, which was the lead single from Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – and earned Rihanna her first ever Oscar nomination.
In order to celebrate Rihanna’s iconic return to music, we’ve taken the liberty of gathering together all of RiRi’s biggest career moments, from early days to now – you know, just in case you missed them…
Rihanna’s biggest career moments so far:
2005: First signing
In 2005, Rihanna was discovered by American record producer Evan Rogers in her home country of Barbados. The 16-year-old’s demo was then sent to Def Jam Recordings, where it was played to the company’s new CEO Jay-Z. Jay-Z invited Rihanna to audition and RiRi left the audition with a six album record deal… easy as that!
2005: ‘Pon de Replay’
It wasn’t long before RiRi then released her first album ‘Music of the Sun’, which sold over two million copies worldwide. It was then in May 2005 the world was graced with the anthem that is ‘Pon de Replay’ – meaning ‘play it again’ in Bajan Creole, one of the official languages of Rihanna’s home country Barbados. The track had appeared on her original demo that landed her that record deal. The song sold a whopping two million copies, charting top 10 in the UK, US and across the globe.
2006: Ri’s first Number 1 single
2006 saw the release of Rihanna’s second studio album ‘A Girl Like Me’, containing bangers such as ‘Unfaithful’ and ‘We Ride’. The album also featured what became her first ever number 1 single ‘SOS’.
2007: ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’
2007 saw Rihanna go from teen-popstar to legendary icon. With the release of the chart topping hit ‘Umbrella’, RiRi showcased her new, sleek look that has been described by critics as a turning point in her career. The star well and truly ditched her innocent teen look, opting for an edgier, bad girl vibe.
2008: Rihanna’s first grammy
2009: ‘Rated R’
2009 warmly welcomed the hard-hitting album ‘Rated R’, including hits such as ‘Rude Boy’, ‘Te Amo’ and ‘Russian Roulette’. The mature album reflected on the star’s recent struggles and was described by critics as her most layered and heartfelt effort.
2010: ‘LOUD’
Now 2010 was quite the year for this superstar; after ditching her signature dark hair, the star opted for a vibrant red do. Oh, and she also released her fifth studio album ‘Loud’ that landed her her first ever GRAMMY nomination for ‘Album of the Year’, featuring her and Drizzy Drake collab for the first time ever. The legendary collab ‘What’s My Name’ featured on the album alongside ‘S&M’, ‘Only Girl (In The World)’ and ‘Love The Way You Lie (Part II)’. Since then, Rihanna and Drake have gone on to team up on multiple other tunes, including ‘Take Care’.
2011: ‘We Found Love’
In 2011 the world welcomed with open arms one of Rihanna’s most iconic songs ‘We Found Love’. Featuring on her sixth studio album ‘Talk That Talk’, the star teamed up with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris to produce this, how do you say it… masterpiece. Other than becoming a staple song at any teen disco and/or house-party, the song went on to win the singer awards for ‘Best R&B/Urban Dance Track’, ‘Best Commercial/Pop Dance Track’, ‘Video Of The Year’ and ‘Best Short Form Music Video’. WOWZA.
2012: Acting career begins with Battleship
Queen Ri’s talent didn’t stop there. In 2012 the Barbadian beauty made her big screen debut in summer blockbuster ‘Battleship’ as Petty Officer Cora Raikes. This lead to her winning the Teen Choice Award for ‘Choice Movie Breakout Star – Female’.
2012: First number 1 album
That same year (2017) Rihanna’s seventh studio album ‘Unapologetic’ became her first No. 1 album, winning her the GRAMMY for ‘Best Urban Contemporary Album’ in January 2014. The album boasts hit tracks such as ‘Diamonds’ and ‘What Now’. Also featured on the album was the incredible ‘Stay’, which after being released as a single from the album made no. 1 in Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic and Denmark, as well as charting in the Top 5 in the UK, Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.
2013 – 2014: Win win win!
Throughout 2013 and 2014, Rihanna took the crown for various awards, including the GRAMMY Award for ‘Best Music Video’, the Billboard Music Award for ‘Top R&B Artist’, ‘Top R&B Song’ AND ‘Top R&B Album’, the NRJ Music Award for ‘International Female Artist of the Year’, the BET Award for ‘Best Female R&B/Pop Artist’ and the GRAMMY Award for ‘Best Urban Contemporary Album’…you know, just to name a few.
2014: Puma
2014 saw the superstar named the creative director of, and a brand ambassador for, Puma. These roles lead to her launching the ‘Fenty x Puma’ range, responsible for fashion trends such as fur sliders and suede creepers.
2016: ‘Anti’
After three years of waiting, fans were not disappointed with Rihanna’s surprise release of ‘Anti’ – her eighth studio album. Shooting to number 1 just two weeks after its initial debut, going on to spend 159 weeks on the Billboard Hot 200. ‘Anti’ graced us with hits such as ‘Work’, ‘Kiss It Better’ and ‘Love on the Brain’.
2017: The launch of Fenty Beauty
Welcoming 2017 by being awarded Humanitarian of the Year by Harvard University, it was set to be a good year for the singer/actor/fashionista extraordinaire with her also launching her incredibly successful beauty line Fenty Beauty. September 8th, 2017 saw the line officially hit Sephora’s website. The line was praised for boasting 40 different foundation shades, with many describing this as the new ‘standard of inclusivity for skin tones’. Fenty Beauty went onto be listed by Time Magazine as one of the best inventions of 2017. The brand has gone onto release body shimmers, eye shadows, highlighters, concealers and the infamous Fenty Beauty Fairy Bomb (ie a massive fluffy pink pom pom full of glitter).
2018: Savage Fenty
In 2018, the the popstar-turned-entrepreneur launched her largely anticipated lingerie line ‘Savage x Fenty’. The collection was launched with 90 pieces of lingerie, sleepwear, and accessories with an extensive sizing range. “I can only hope to encourage confidence and strength by showing lingerie in another light,” she told Vogue.
2020: PARTYNEXTDOOR Collab
In March 2020, Rihanna finally gave us some music when she teamed up with PARTYNEXTDOOR on the hit ‘BELIEVE IT’.
2020: Fenty Skin
In July 2020, Rihanna announced the launch of beauty brand Fenty Skin. Sharing a video of herself using all the products she wrote, ‘Ima try my best to be humble about this but, @fentyskin is coming July 31st exclusively at FENTYSKIN.COM!! “Y’all ain’t hear it from me 🤫 but you can shop it early if ya drop me your email through the link in my bio…’. (sic)
It was then in December 2020 that the range became available in the UK.
2021: Rihanna’s new music
With Rihanna’s last album, ‘Anti’, being released way back in 2016, it’s no secret that RiRi fans are desperate for new music from the star! In 2019 reports broke that Rihanna was working on her ninth album, with the singer revealing to Vogue in 2020 that she was “very aggressively working on music”, with her new material being on a “different level” and “worth the wait”. After testRihanna’s savage response to a fan requesting her new album in 2021, here’s hoping that we get to hear it soon!
2021: Rihanna is officially a BILLIONAIRE
Queen RiRi was announced as a billionaire in August 2021. She’s now worth an estimated £1.2 billion according to Forbes, making her the wealthiest female musician on the planet due to her shares in Fenty Beauty and Savage x Fenty. She’s now the second richest female entertainer behind Oprah Winfrey.In July 2022, Rihanna’s worth increased further, de-throning Kim Kardashian to become America’s youngest self-made female billionaire, with a net worth of $1.4billion.
2022: Rihanna pledges $15million to help climate change
In January 2022, it was revealed that Rihanna pledged $15 million (£11.1million) to fighting for climate justice through her Clara Lionel Foundation, which is named after her grandparents. The donations were spread across 18 climate justice organisations working in seven Caribbean nations and the US.
2022: Rihanna promises new music following pregnancy announcement
Rihanna sent her fans into a frenzy as she revealed that she was pregnant in January 2022, with the singer expecting her first child with her boyfriend A$AP Rocky.
The exciting announcement had many fans thinking that they would have to wait a little bit longer for new music from RiRi, however the singer put all our minds at ease as she revealed that despite expecting baby No.1, we will still get new music from her. She said: “Yes, you’re still going to get music from me.” before joking: “My fans would kill me if they waited this long for a lullaby!”
2022: Rihanna makes debut on Forbes billionaires list
Despite Forbes revealing in 2021 that Rihanna was officially a billionaire, it wasn’t until April 2022 that the singer was officially listed in the business magazine’s billionaires list. Forbes reported Rihanna’s fortune to be around £1,400,000,000.
Ranking at number 1729 (on 5th April), the singer joins the Forbes billionaires list alongside other huge names such as Kanye West, Jay-Z and director Peter Jackson.
2022: Rihanna announced for Super Bowl 2023
In September 2022, Rihanna was announced for the Super Bowl 2023 Half Time Show with an iconic photo.
2022: Rihanna releases new single ‘Lift Me Up’
The moment we were all waiting for! After Marvel teased that Rihanna may have some involvement with their upcoming film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the singer soon confirmed the news that she was releasing a new single for the huge film. Then, on 28th October 2022, Rihanna dropped the track ‘Lift Me Up’.
The song serves as the lead single for the Black Panther 2 soundtrack, with the rest of the film’s songs being released on 4th November.
2023: Savage x Fenty release Super Bowl collection
In January 2023, a month ahead of the Super Bowl, Rihanna’s brand Savage x Fenty released a Super Bowl collection, including a ‘surprise tee’ which included a photo of Rihanna on the inside!
2023: Oscars nomination
Rihanna received an Oscars nomination in January 2023 for ‘Lift Me Up’, which features on the soundtrack of Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. She was up against Lady Gaga and Bloodpop for ‘Hold My Hand’ from Top Gun: Maverick, as well as songs from Tell It Like a Woman, Everything Everywhere All at Once and RRR.
2023: Super Bowl performance
Rihanna took to the stage during the Super Bowl Half-Time show performing 17 years of hits in just 13 minutes – and casually announced she was pregnant by rubbing her baby bump as she appeared on stage! She welcomed her second baby in August 2023.
Rihanna
2023: Savage x Fenty maternity range
Rihanna shared new photos of her son RZA as she launched her new clothing range in August 2023 – a maternity collection of her underwear brand, Savage x Fenty. Rihanna was praised around the world as she shared some empowering photos of herself breastfeeding RZA, along with some other pics of her modelling some of her new range.
2023: First female to have 10 songs with 1B Spotify streams
In June 2023, RiRi became the first female artist to have 10 songs with 1 billion Spotify streams! She celebrated the news on Instagram, writing: ‘Bad Gal billi … wit no new album lemme talk my sh– 😜🇧🇧’. (sic)
2024: Rihanna sets RIAA Diamond records
In May 2024, Rihanna was awarded the huge achievement, by the RIAA, of Most Diamond Singles For A Female Artist, and Most Diamond Certified Titles For A Female Artist! She took to Instagram to share the huge feat, writing: ‘ain’t no back n forth’ (sic). RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) Diamond certifications entail the song/album moving at least 10 million equivalent units (combining sales and streaming numbers) – in increments of 1,000,000 thereafter.
2024: Rihanna launches Fenty Hair
10th June 2024 saw the launch party of Rihanna’s highly-anticipated haircare range! Fenty Hair – the latest of her Fenty Beauty brands – was launched with nine products, including shampoo, conditioner, a treatment, heat protector, defining cream/gels and even a 3-in-1 edge tool. The new brand had a launch date of 13th June 2024, with Rihanna expressing: ‘a new family is moving in! @fentyhair is pullin up and it’s time to finally have the hair experience you’ve been waiting for.
‘you know how much switching my hair up matters to me. I’ve had almost every texture, color, length, from weaves to braids to natural- so I am launching a flexible line of products for not only every hair want, but every single product is designed to strengthen and repair all types of hair, which is what we truly need! It’s time to play and get stronger by the style 💁🏿♀️’. (sic)
Prior to the range’s release, Rihanna gushed over her love for haircare, expressing how scent was a huge factor she worked on for her brand new range.
