Celebrity Today: Rihanna

Robyn Rihanna Fenty (play /riˈɑːnə/ ree-ah-nə or /riˈænə/ ree-an-ə; born February 20, 1988), better known as simply Rihanna, is a Barbadian R&B recording artist. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna moved to the United States at the age of 16 to pursue a recording career under the guidance of record producer Evan Rogers. She subsequently signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for then-label head Jay-Z.

In 2005, Rihanna released her debut studio album, Music of the Sun, which peaked in the top ten of the Billboard 200 chart and features the Billboard Hot 100 hit single "Pon de Replay." Less than a year later, she released her second studio album, A Girl Like Me (2006), which peaked within the top five of the Billboard albums chart, and produced her first Hot 100 number one single, "SOS". Rihanna's third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), spawned four chart-topping singles "Umbrella", "Take a Bow", "Disturbia" and "Don't Stop the Music", and was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella," which features Jay-Z. Her fourth studio album Rated R, released in November 2009, produced the top 10 singles "Russian Roulette", "Hard" and "Rude Boy", which achieved the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. Loud (2010), her fifth studio album, contains the number-one hits "Only Girl (In the World)", "What's My Name?" and "S&M". "We Found Love" was released in September 2011 as the lead single from her sixth studio album and has topped the charts in over ten countries. Talk That Talk, Rihanna's sixth album, is set to be released in November 2011.

Rihanna has sold more than 20 million albums and 60 million singles which makes her one of the best selling artists of all time. She is the youngest artist in Billboard charts history to achieve eleven number-one singles on the Hot 100. As of March 2010, Rihanna has sold approximately 7.3 million album units and over 33.7 million digital singles in the United States. Billboard named Rihanna the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade, and ranked her as the 17th Artist of the 2000s decade. She has received several accolades, including the 2007 World Music Awards for World's Best-Selling Pop Female Artist and Female Entertainer of the Year, and the 2011 Brit Award for Best International Female Solo Artist. She has also amassed a total of four Grammy Awards, four American Music Awards, and eighteen Billboard Music Awards. Rihanna has also been appointed the official ambassador of youth and culture for Barbados.

Rihanna Photos

Rihanna Photos (1)

Rihanna Photos (2)

Rihanna Photos (3)

Rihanna Photos (4)

Rihanna Photos (5)

Rihanna Photos (6)

Rihanna Photos (7)

Rihanna Photos (8)

Rihanna Photos (9)

Rihanna Photos (10)

Rihanna Photos (11)

Rihanna Photos (12)

Rihanna Photos (13)

Rihanna Photos (14)

Rihanna Photos (15)

Rihanna Photos (16)

Rihanna Photos (17)

Rihanna Photos (18)

Rihanna Photos (19)

Rihanna Photos (20)

When we rang in 2011, Rihanna was on top of the charts with "S&M." The year is ending as it began. "We Found Love," the lead single from "Talk That Talk," Rihanna’s sixth album, leapt from nowhere to No. 1 in just a few weeks. The pounding, Calvin Harris-produced dance-pop record has become the inescapable single of the autumn. "You Da One," the follow-up single, sounds like another sure-footed chart-climber.

This year was supposed to belong to Mother Monster. Lady Gaga’s "Born This Way" certainly moved copies, but its singles did not capture the mood, or the hearts, of the nation. They felt like a further elaboration of Gaga’s character, not yours or mine; we were invited to watch and gape, but we weren’t asked to identify.

Adele was tripped up on her victory lap by a vocal chord problem that threatens her career. Beyoncé barely attempted to chart singles in ’11, instead opting to release a stylized, deeply personal album with no "Single Ladies" in sight. Katy Perry’s singles were wildly popular, but did not speak to the concerns of anybody over 16.

Meanwhile, Rihanna hit with "Man Down" and "Cheers (Drink to That)," sang the hook on the year’s most influential rap single (Kanye West’s "All of the Lights"), furthered the house music invasion by providing her voice for use by David Guetta on "Who’s that Chick?," fulfilled Coldplay’s radio-pop fantasies on "Princess of China," pushed the envelope with an arena tour that was provocative in all the right ways, and made videos that ran afoul of network censors for all the right reasons.

While the closing bell has not yet sounded, we have a winner by TKO. Rihanna may not be the world’s best pop star. But because her message fits the moment, she’s become the one whose music matters most.

That message is perseverance in hard times. While Rihanna’s songs about sex grab the headlines, it’s her talent for channeling desperation and determination that truly distinguishes her. Her latest blockbuster barely has any lyrics at all; instead, she repeats, again and again, "we found love in a hopeless place." Yet so steely are her long-held vowels (and so devastated is that little flip in her voice at the end of each line) that she makes the mantra feel meaningful and even moving. Tragedy bleeds all over this disc. Anybody who has ever been in a hopeless place — even briefly — may find this record and its accompanying video a compelling, near-unbearable revisitation.

"We Found Love" is Rihanna’s eleventh No. 1 hit. That ties her with Whitney Houston and leaves Gaga, Beyoncé and Britney Spears in the dust. Sure, she’s still got a long way to go before she catches up to the Beatles (20 chart-toppers), but that was a different era. A better comparison is Madonna, and with one more trip to the top, Rihanna will tie the Material Girl.

If "You Da One" scales the charts as fast as "We Found Love" did — not an unreasonable proposition, given its sparkling Dr. Luke production — that could happen before the year is out, and would put a nice bow on Rihanna’s triumphant 2011.

Sometimes it is argued that the great joy of pop is its ephemerality, and that chart hits are meant to be enjoyed and quickly forgotten. This is a load of hooey. Pop singers want the same thing that rappers and rockers do: They want to make records that capture the essence of a time and place and slip into the Great American Playlist for good. Only a few artists have accomplished this with the regularity that Robyn Rihanna Fenty has. And Robyn Rihanna Fenty is 23 years old.