Rihanna Biography

Rihanna, singer

Birthdate: February 20, 1988

Birthplace: Saint Michael, Barbados

Sign: Pisces

Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born to Ronald and Monica Fenty in Saint Michael, Barbados. She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial School and Combermere School.

While at school in Combermere, she formed a musical trio with her two classmates, and won the Miss Combermere Beauty Pageant in 2004.

Rihanna was introduced to music producer Evan Rogers in 2003 while the latter was vacationing in the island nation. With the help of Rogers and his partner Carl Sturken, she recorded a material in the U.S. that was sent to various recording companies, which included Jay-Z's Def Jam Recordings. She was eventually signed on to the company.

In August 2005, she released her debut album Music of the Sun and two singles. One of which is "Pon de Replay," released on August 22, 2005, became a huge success and peaked at number 2 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts. It also became an international hit and achieved positions on 20 charts around the world.

Her second album A Girl Like Me was released in 2006. The lead single "SOS," used in an endorsement deal with Nike, became Rihanna's first number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and at the Hot Digital Songs chart. It also produced another winning hit, "Unfaithful," written by Ne-Yo. The album's sold over 1 million in the U.S. and 3.5 million internationally.

She signed an endorsement deal with makeup brand Clinique, in which she recorded a song written by Ne-Yo entitled "Just Be Happy" for the brand's Happy perfume. She also recoded "Winning Women" with Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls for deodorant brand Secret.

Her acting debut was in "Bring It On: All or Nothing" in 2006.

Rihanna's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, was released in June 2007. It produced five hit singles, including "Umbrella," a worldwide number one hit featuring rapper superstar Jay-Z. The single was named the most successful song in the world for 2007, with 8.16 million points on the United World Chart.

A re-issue the album, Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, was released in June 2008, and yielded a new single, "Take a Bow," which was premiered on KIIS-FM's "On Air with Ryan Seacrest" radio program. The single peaked at number one on the Hot 100 and on the U.K. Music Charts. The album also includes her duet with Maroon 5, "If I Never See Your Face Again."

Rihanna, who was named as "The Next Britney" by singer/producer Ryan Teddy, is scheduled to work with him.

The hitmaker was romantically linked to actor Josh Harnett last year and to R&B singer Chris Brown just recently. She both denied romantic relationships with both.