Rihanna

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Rihanna
Background information
Birth name	Robyn Rihanna Fenty
Born	February 20, 1988 (age 19)
Origin	Saint Michael, Barbados
Genre(s)	R&B Pop Reggae
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Years active	2005–present
Label(s)	Def Jam
Website	Official Website

Rihanna (born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988 in St. Michael, Barbados), is a Bajan singer with musical influences from R&B, pop, reggae and dancehall. Rihanna became worldwide known with chart hits such as "Pon de Replay", "If It's Lovin' That You Want", "SOS", "Unfaithful", and "Break It Off".

Contents 1 Early life 2 Music career 2.1 Music of the Sun 2.2 A Girl Like Me 2.3 Good Girl Gone Bad 3 CoverGirl 4 Discography 4.1 Albums 4.2 Singles 5 Trivia 6 Awards and nominations 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

Early life

Rihanna was born to Ronald and Monica Fenty. Her mother is Afro-Guyanese and her father is a Barbadian of Irish decent. She has two younger brothers named Rorrey and Rajad. Rihanna went to Charles F. Broome Memorial School, a primary school in Barbados, and then on to one of Barbados' older secondary schools, the Combermere School, where she formed a musical trio with two of her classmates. In 2004, she won the Miss Combermere Beauty Pageant and performed in the Colours of Combermere School Show, singing Mariah Carey's "Hero". At the age of 15, Rihanna received her big break when one of her friends introduced her to music producer Evan Rogers, who was vacationing in Barbados with his wife. Rogers, along with his partner, Carl Sturken, helped Rihanna record material in the US which was sent to various recording companies. One copy of Rihanna's work was sent to Jay-Z, who eventually signed her to Def Jam Records.

Music career

Music of the Sun

Rihanna's debut album Music Of The Sun, which she co-wrote, was released in August 2005. The first single released from the album was the track "Pon De Replay", which peaked at number 2 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart due to considerable airplay. Although the success was great, only greater success was to come. The second single, "If It's Lovin' That You Want", was less successful than its predecessor, climaxing on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 36, and number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The album itself peaked within the top ten in Canada, and the US, and within the top forty in the UK. It has received platinum certifications in several countries, and received a Gold certification in the US by the RIAA. To further promote the album, Rihanna toured as an open act for American pop singer Gwen Stefani. The album itself sold over 500,000 units in the US and over 2 million worldwide. The album features many dancehall songs that harth to her island upcoming. Because her second album, "A Girl Like Me" was released so soon after "Music Of the Sun", no more singles were released. However, a third single, "Let Me" was unofficially released in Japan, and peaked at #8 there.

A Girl Like Me

In 2006, Rihanna participated in several endorsement deals, including for Nike and J.C. Penney. She released her second album, A Girl Like Me, in April 2006 less than eight months after the release of her first album. The album debuted at number five in the US and number four in the UK. The lead single, "SOS", was used in her endorsement deal with Nike. The song became Rihanna's first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; it also debuted at number one on the Hot Digital Songs chart. "SOS" peaked at number one in Australia and number two in the UK. The second single, a slow ballad, which was written by R&B singer Ne-Yo, addresses the feelings of guilt that the protagonist of the song faces as she cheats on her former boyfriend DJ Homeless, entitled "Unfaithful", became her third top ten hit in the US and in the UK. The third single "We Ride" has not been as successful as her previous releases, failing to chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, however, it has managed to seal her 5th UK top 20 single, where it peaked at number 17 on that chart and peaked #1 at Hot Dance Club Play. Rihanna's fourth single from the album "Break It Off" featuring Sean Paul had already managed peak at #45 on the Billboard Hot 100 based soley on airplay. It was released as a digital download on February 19, 2007, which made the song jump from #52 to #10 and then eventually peaking at #9.

In total Rihanna has had 11 different number ones on the Billboard Charts and has had major success on the Hot Dance Club Play chart with four number ones (Pon De Replay, SOS, Unfaithful (Remix) and We Ride). When Rihanna got the Clinique endorsement, she recorded a song written by Ne-Yo entitled Just Be Happy as part of the deal to promote their Happy fragrance. The song can be heard on her Myspace page. Rihanna also recently recorded a song call Winning Women with Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger for P&G’s female deodorant Secret.

Rihanna made her acting debut in a cameo role in Bring It On: All or Nothing, which was released on August 8, 2006, she also appeared on an episode of American soap opera All My Children and drama Las Vegas.

Good Girl Gone Bad

Rihanna has been in the studio with Ne-Yo, her usual producers Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, as well as new producers, Will.i.am, Stargate, Timbaland, Sean Garrett, and Cee-Lo Green, among others recording for her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad. The album is set to be released on June 5, 2007.

The first single "Umbrella", featuring Jay-Z, was released on March 29, 2007. It was produced by Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The Dream" Nash.^[1]

CoverGirl

Rihanna became a spokesperson for CoverGirl in early December 2006, agreeing to shoot a series of ads for their June 2007 campaign to coincide with the release of her new album.^[2]

Discography

Main article: Rihanna discography

Albums

Cover	Information
	Music Of The Sun Released: August 30, 2005 Chart positions: #10 U.S., #2 U.S. R&B U.S. certification: Gold U.S. sales: 500,000+
	A Girl Like Me Released: April 25, 2006 Chart positions: #5 U.S., #2 U.S. R&B U.S. certification: Platinum U.S. sales: 1,100,000+
	Good Girl Gone Bad Released: June 5, 2007 Chart positions: #- U.S., #- U.S. R&B U.S. certification: - U.S. sales: -

Singles

Year	Single	Chart positions				Album
		U.S.	UK	CAN	AUS
2005	"Pon De Replay"	2	2	1	6	Music Of The Sun
	"If It's Lovin' That You Want"	33	11	3	9
	"Let Me"
2006	"SOS"	1 (3 Weeks)	2	2	1 (8 Weeks)	A Girl Like Me
	"Unfaithful"	6	2	1	3
	"We Ride"	106	17		24
2007	"Break It Off" (featuring Sean Paul)	9		29*
	"Umbrella" (featuring Jay-Z)					Good Girl Gone Bad

Trivia

• Rihanna had military training with the Barbados Cadet Corps.
• She is the oldest of 3 children and the only girl.
• Rihanna recently got a tattoo behind her ear of a star.
• Rihanna never travels anywhere without her Hello Kitty blanket.
• Rihanna is currently looking into more acting roles.

Awards and nominations

• • 2006: MTV Video Music Awards - Best New Artist (nomination) - SOS
  • 2006: MTV Video Music Awards - Viewer's Choice Award (nomination) - SOS
  • 2006: MTV Video Music Awards Japan - Best New Artist In A Video - Pon De Replay Win
  • 2006: MuchMusic Video Award - Best International Artist Win
  • 2006: BET Award - Best New Artist
  • 2006: Teen Choice Awards - Female Breakout Artist Win
  • 2006: Teen Choice Awards - Choice R&B Artist Win
  • 2006: MOBO Awards - Best R&B Artist Win
  • 2006: BMI Urban Awards - Pon de Replay 'Win
  • 2006: MTV Europe Music Awards - Best R&B Artist Win
  • 2006: MTV Europe Music Awards - Best Song of the Year - SOS
  • 2006: Billboard Music Awards - Female Artist of the Year Win
  • 2006: Billboard Music Awards - Pop 100 Artist of the Year Win
  • 2006: Billboard Music Awards - Hot 100 Artist of the Year Win
  • 2006: Billboard Music Awards - Hot Dance Airplay song of the Year for "SOS" Win
  • 2007: Barbados Music Awards - Best Entertainer of the Year Win
  • 2007: Barbados Music Awards - Best Female Entertainer of the Year Win
  • 2007: Barbados Music Awards - Diamond Sales Award Win
  • 2007: Barbados Music Awards - Album of the Year Win
  • 2007: NRJ Music Awards - Best International Song - Unfaithful Win

See also

• List of Bajans
• List of number-one hits (United States)
• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
• List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100
• List of celebrities who have been Punk'd from Season 6 to Present

References

External links

• Official Website
• DefJam Artist Site
• Ultimate Rihanna (Fansite)
• Rihanna at the Internet Movie Database
• Rihanna at TV.com