Rihanna made her debut in the American music industry when she was only seventeen. Hailing from Saint Michael, Barbados, she was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988. Her father, Ronald, was a native of Barbados, while her mother, Monica, was from Guyana. Having shown a love for music at an early age, she started a musical trio with her friends from Combermere Secondary School. Since then, she has performed musical number for her school, where her talent became well-known.
Rihanna's earliest musical influences were from her Caribbean culture, as well as Beyonce Knowles, Alicia Keys, and Fefe Dobson. In 2003, she was introduced to Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken, the music producers who recorded her first songs for demonstration for record labels in the United States. Rap artist Jay-Z recognized the young girl's talent and signed her up with Def Jam Records.
Her first album, "Music of the Sun" was launched in the US in 2005. The album reached platinum status after massive sales in other countries. It contained the hit single "Pon De Replay" which reached the second top spot in the Billboard Hot 100 charts. She has performed the song in many TV programs like the Tyra Banks Show, Ellen DeGeneres Show, Late Show with David Letterman, and many others.
"A Girl Like Me" was her immediately released second album in April 2006. This sophomore release featured more hit songs like "SOS", "Unfaithful", and "We Ride". During this year, Rihanna has done collaborative projects with other artists like Ne-Yo, Sean Paul, and Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls. She also made product endorsements with Secret, JC Penney, Nike, and Clinique.
In 2007, Rihanna launched her third album entitled, "Good Girl Gone Bad" which contained the record-breaking single, "Umbrella". She recorded the song with Jay-Z and soared to the top of the Billboard charts, remaining at the spot for more than 10 weeks. The music video for this single also won her the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year and Monster Single of the Year in 2007.
Other accomplishments by Rihanna include her being ranked as one of the richest Hollywood teens by The Times of India. At the Live Earth Tokyo concert in July 20007, Rihanna performed alongside various artists to promote environmental conservation. At present, she is working with projects alongside Beyonce and Chris Brown, and is currently promoting her album in many countries.
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