Rihanna

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Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in 1988, Rihanna, as we know her, has become a musical and fashion icon in her few years of fame. She was born in Barbados but moved to the U.S in 2004 to further her music career after meeting with Evan Rogers who was vacationing on her home island. Following her stateside move, Rihanna recorded several demos under the direction of Evans, demos that caught the attention of Jay Z at Def Jam who quickly signed her.

Her freshman album, Music of the Sun, got a boost from the widely popular single “Pon de Replay” which received heavy airplay and rose to the number 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 2005. The debut album featured heavy Caribbean influence and included appearances by both Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel, key figures in the dancehall world.

She saw her first number one hit in 2006 with her second album, A Girl Like Me and the single “SOS”. That album also featured two additional top ten hits with “Unfaithful” and “Break It Off”.  A Girl Like Me pulled Rihanna more towards the R&B world, though never shaking the Caribbean rhythms that formed her personality and her musical style alike.

2007 brought an even bigger hit with the album Good Girl Gone Bad and the ridiculously popular single “Umbrella”. This album featured  big names like Ne-Yo and Timbaland, in addition to her longtime friend and producer Jay Z. “Take a Bow”, “Disturbia”, and “Don’t Stop the Music” were all major hits off this record which earned the starlet 9 Grammy Awards. She won the Best Rap/Song Collaboration Grammy for “Umbrella” featuring Jay Z in 2008.

Rihanna’s island roots paired with her pop style and soulful voice reach across many genres to pull fans from every direction. Her edgy fashion sense makes her a target for photographers and a face frequently seen on magazine covers and popular websites.

In early 2009 an incident with then boyfriend R&B singer Chris Brown brought them both into the limelight and at the center of a heated discussion on domestic violence among young people. Brown later pled guilty to a felony assault charge and was sentenced to 5 years probation and 6 months of labor.

Not one to let the negative publicity stop her, Rihanna can frequently be seen jet setting around the globe and performing to sold out crowds on a regular basis. At the young age of 21 it is obvious this young woman has plenty of years left on her and the support of many top professionals in the music industry behind her.