Robyn Fenty, Popularly known as Rihanna, is a Barbadian singer, actress, fashion designer, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados.
She has stayed relevant over the years despite her indefinite hiatus in the music scene. She is also a renowned business mogul, and has recently achieved billionaire status, due to the emerging success of her popular enterprise, Fenty Beauty.
Here are 5 facts you probably didn’t know about Rihanna;
She Has Won A Beauty Pageant While She Was Still At School
In 2004, a year before her first hit single “Pon de Replay” was released, Rihanna won her highschool beauty pageant, She was crowned Miss Combermere, in part, because of her performance of Mariah Carey’s “Hero” in the talent portion.
- She Received Military Training In Barbados
Before she became a worldwide phenomenon, Rihanna was an army cadet in a sub-military program in Barbados, the singer’s home country.
In the same Daily Mail interview, she told the publication that her military training actually helped her to compete in the beauty pageant.
“My military training came in handy for learning to balance books on my head for the catwalk,” she said.
- Rihanna Signed Her First Record Deal At 16 years Old, And Jay-Z Played A Role In The Offer
After an audition for record producer Evan Rogers in 2003, Rihanna produced a demo in 2004 and was later flown to New York to meet with Jay-Z, the then-president of the Def Jam record label.
England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/BFC/Getty Images)
RIHANNA QUOTE
I want to give people a taste of the Caribbean, and show them the fun side of me.I’d love to date somebody cool, fun, funny.Dancing was always part of my culture growing up in Barbados. When I shot my 1st video I worked really hard with my choreographer to perfect the routines.People think, because we’re young, we aren’t complex, but that’s not true. We deal with life and love and broken hearts in the same way a woman a few years older might.I am a child but I have to think and act like a woman, this business forces you to.My mother would kill me if I posed nude! My mother raised me with certain standards.
He wanted to sign Rihanna so badly that the label’s meeting with her reportedly went until 3am while the lawyers ironed out all the details.
At the age of 16, Rihanna signed a contract with the label.
- She Was The First Woman To Launch A Fashion Line For LVMH
In 2009, Rihanna became the first woman to create an original fashion line with the luxury Fashion House (LVMH) Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
- Rihanna Wasn’t Allowed To Wear Makeup Growing Up
Although she’s now a beauty mogul, Rihanna wasn’t allowed to wear makeup growing up.
“My mom wasn’t flexible. I wore no makeup,” she told InStyle in 2017.
Rihanna also said her love of all things beauty related came from watching her mother work at a beauty counter when she was growing up.
