Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ree-AN-ə; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, fashion designer, actress, and philanthropist. She is known for embracing various musical styles and reinventing her image throughout her career.
Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the US in 2005, when she signed with Def Jam Recordings to pursue a music career. Rihanna earned significant recognition following the release of her first two studio albums Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl like Me (2006), both of which were influenced by Caribbean music and peaked within the top ten of the US Billboard 200 chart. Rihanna's third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), incorporated more elements of dance-pop and catapulted her to greater stardom, establishing her status as a sex symbol and a leading figure in the music industry. Its international chart-topping single "Umbrella" earned Rihanna her first Grammy Award, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
Rihanna extended her fusion of pop, dance and R&B on her next four studio albums, Rated R (2009), Loud (2010), Talk That Talk (2011) and the Grammy Award-winning Unapologetic (2012). All four releases incorporated experimentation of various musical styles and consolidated Rihanna's international chart success, Unapologetic being her first number-one album in the US. The records spawned a string of chart-topping singles, including "Rude Boy", "Only Girl (In the World)", "What's My Name?", "S&M", "We Found Love", "Diamonds" and "Stay". Her eighth studio album, Anti (2016), showcased her control over artistic creativity after her departure from Def Jam. It became her second US number-one album and featured the chart-topping single "Work". Besides solo materials, Rihanna is a prolific featured artist, having collaborated with such musicians as Drake, Eminem and Calvin Harris to similar success.
Having sold over 250 million records, Rihanna is one of the world's best-selling music artists. She has earned 14 number-one singles and 31 top-ten singles in the US, and 30 top-ten entries in the UK. Her accolades include nine Grammy Awards, 13 American Music Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, and six Guinness World Records. Forbes ranked her among the top ten highest-paid celebrities in 2012 and 2014, and Time named her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world twice (2012 and 2018). Alongside a successful music career, Rihanna is well known for her involvement in humanitarian causes, entrepreneurial ventures and the fashion industry. She is the founder of nonprofit organization Clara Lionel Foundation, cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty, and fashion house Fenty under LVMH. In 2018, the Government of Barbados appointed her as an ambassador with duties promoting education, tourism and investment.
