| Rihanna (born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer with musical influences from pop, R&B, reggae, dancehall, and dance. Rihanna became known around the world with chart hits such as "Pon de Replay", "SOS", "Unfaithful" and more recently, with "Break It Off" and "Umbrella". Rihanna was born in Saint Michael, Barbados to Ronald and Monica Fenty. Her mother is a Guyanese of Barbadian origin and her father is Barbadian. She has two younger brothers named Rorrey and Rajad. Rihanna went to Charles F. Broome Memorial School, a primary school in Barbados, and then on to one of Barbados' older secondary schools, the Combermere School, where she formed a musical trio with two of her classmates. In 2004, she won the Miss Combermere Beauty Pageant and performed in the Colours of Combermere School Show, singing Mariah Carey's "Hero". At the age of 15, Rihanna received her big break when one of her friends introduced her to music producer Evan Rogers, who was vacationing in Barbados with his wife. Rogers, along with his partner, Carl Sturken, helped Rihanna record material in the U.S. which was sent to various recording companies. One copy of Rihanna's work was sent to Jay-Z, who eventually signed her to Def Jam Records. Rihanna stated in an interview that her friend and former Island Def Jam record label artist Fefe Dobson was someone that she admired and looked up to, having a fellow artist writing, singing, and performing the music she truly loves. In total Rihanna has had 11 different number-ones on the Billboard charts and has had major success on the Hot Dance Club Play chart with four number-ones ("Pon De Replay", "SOS", "Unfaithful" and "We Ride"). When Rihanna received an endorsement deal from Clinique, she recorded a song written by Ne-Yo entitled "Just Be Happy" as part of the deal to promote their Happy fragrance. The song can be heard on her Myspace page. Rihanna also recently recorded a song called "Winning Women" with Pussycat Doll Nico |
