Rihanna born Robyn RihannaFenty on February 20, 1988, is a Barbadian singer. She is the second artist, and first female, from Barbados to have received a Grammy Award(the first being Jimmy Senya Haynes). She got her big break the age of 15when one of her friends introduced her to music producer Evan Rogers, who was vacationing in Barbados. Rogers 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 Recordings. Rihanna names Brandy Norwood, Beyoncé Knowles, Madonna, Mariah Carey, Bob Marley and her Caribbean background as major musical influences.
Rihanna's debut album, Music of the Sun, was released on August 30, 2005, and it was not critically and commercially successful. It ended with only a poor 500,000 copies sold in the U.S.
Rihanna released her second album, A Girl like Me, in April 2006; less than eight months after the release of Music of the Sun. The lead single, "SOS" became Rihanna's first number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; it also debuted at number one on the Hot Digital Songs chart. "SOS" peaked at number one in Australia and number two in the UK. The second single, entitled "Unfaithful", was written by R&B singer Ne-Yo. The song became her third top ten hit in the U.S. and in the UK. A Girl like Me's sales were significantly stronger, selling 1.2 million in the U.S. alone.
In early 2007Rihanna started recording her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, withwith Ne-Yo,Stargate, and Timbaland. The album was released on June 5, 2007, and it features Jay-Z and Ne-Yo as featured artists. Rihanna worked with Timbaland on three songs in the album.
The first single, "Umbrella", featuring Jay-Z, was released on March 29, 2007, reaching number one in various countries, including the United States. Time magazine named "Umbrella" one of The 10 Best Songs of 2007, ranking it at #3.
Starting September 12, 2007, Rihanna toured Canada and the United States in support of the album with several shows and then crossed to Europe.
She got four Grammy Awards nominations: Record of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (for "Umbrella"), Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals (for "Hate That I Love You") as well as Best Dance Recording (for "Don't Stop the Music"), while her album received an extra two Grammys: Song of the Year and Best R&B Song.
There are conflicting reports about her next album. MTV.com reported that Rihanna has now gone into the studio to start recording her fourth album. In the near future, Rihanna is scheduled to work with Ryan Tedder, who named her as "The Next Britney". She also states that she wants to work with T-Pain.