April 10, 2012 – Rihanna at the Battleship Australian Premiere. Image source: Liam Mendes, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Rihanna is an outstanding role model, one of the most successful music artists of all time, and a savvy businesswoman. But very few people ever get close enough to know the real her, as she isn’t the most public celebrity you’ve ever heard of. While she may be open about the things she struggles with, she rarely steps into controversy and always tends to keep her personal life out of the headlines.
In this article, we’ll take a long look at Rihanna’s personal life, music career, and business ventures to learn some of the most interesting facts available about her.
Rihanna Had A Tough Childhood
Rihanna was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 Robyn Rihanna Fenty in 1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados. As she grew up, she lived in a three-bedroom bungalow in Bridgetown, the capital city of Barbados, selling clothes alongside her father in a street stall.
Her 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥hood was deeply impacted by her father’s alcohol and drug abuse, which strained her parent’s marriage and was often thought to be the basis for her father’s physical abuse of her mother. She would often attempt to get between them as they fought, sometimes getting hurt herself.
June 16, 2012 – GE LightSpeed CT scanner at Open House, Monroeville, Pennsylvania. Image source: daveynin from United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
She also dealt with debilitating headaches as a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥. She underwent numerous CT scans that looked for the problem, which the doctors at the time believed to be a tumor. At 14, her parents divorced, and her headaches began to improve.
Her Music Career Began In Barbados
Rihanna and two of her classmates formed a musical trio in Barbados, but they never came up with a name or had any of their own material. Despite this, they decided to audition with an American record producer, Evan Rogers. He was struck when watching the group but only with Rihanna.
In an interview, he stated: “The minute Rihanna walked into the room, it was like the other two girls didn’t exist.”
The Last Time
She would go on to perform for him solo, singing songs by Destiny’s Child and Mariah Carey. After being fully impressed, he invited her to the US to record demo tapes to send to record labels. Two of the tracks from those tapes would end up being hit songs for her, Pon De Replay and The Last Time. Those tapes would be sent out, eventually earning her an audition with Def Jam Records and their then CEO Jay-Z.
March 19, 2003 – Jay-Z in Hamburg, Germany. Image source: Mikamote, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Jay-Z was so impressed with her talent after hearing her audition he closed a six-album deal with the then 16-year-old Rihanna and convinced her to not even audition for other record labels. By May 2005, Pon De Replay would be released as her debut single, and a star was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧.
She Didn’t Actually Like Pon De Replay
Speaking of Rihanna’s debut hit single, she didn’t really like the song. While Jay-Z thought the track was too big for her before hearing her perform it and it would become a massive hit single, she actually thought the song was too much like a nursery rhyme.
