Rihanna, born in Barbados in 1988, has sold an estimated 250 million records and is the first female musician to achieve billionaire status.
Early Life in Barbados
Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on 20 February 1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados, and grew up in Bridgetown, where she helped her father sell clothes at a street stall. She signed with Def Jam Recordings and debuted with Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl Like Me (2006).
The Hits
Her album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) produced the US number-one singles “Umbrella”, “Take a Bow” and “Disturbia”. Later number ones include “Rude Boy”, “We Found Love”, “Diamonds” and “Work”. Overall she has fourteen number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, eight diamond-certified singles and nine Grammy Awards.
Business and Beyond Music
In 2017 she launched Fenty Beauty with LVMH’s Kendo division, followed by the lingerie brand Savage X Fenty in 2018. She founded the nonprofit Clara Lionel Foundation, and Barbados named her an ambassador in 2018 and a National Hero in 2021.
Her film roles include Battleship (2012), Home (2015), Ocean’s 8 (2018) and Smurfs (2025).
Charity
Rihanna founded the Believe Foundation in 2006 to support terminally ill children. In 2012 she founded the Clara Lionel Foundation, named after her grandparents Clara and Lionel Braithwaite, which funds education and emergency preparedness and response programmes. She was also among the co-owners of the streaming service Tidal, announced in 2015.
Image: Rihanna performing at the Concert for Valor, Washington, D.C., 11 November 2014 (file photo). Photo: DoD News / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
