Rihanna is back with a bang – with her long-waited ninth studio album ‘R9’ – the follow-up to her 2016 album ‘ANTI’ dropping soon.
While an official release date has not been given at the time of going to press many believe it will drop this month or in January 2025. The album is said to be a double-disc release, as Rihanna indicated she was working on 2 albums, one being “full of chart-friendly songs” and the other being “made up of moody and experimental tracks.”
Rihanna (real name Robyn Rihanna Fenty) is noted as the best-selling female recording artist of the 21st century by Guinness World Records and the second wealthiest female singer in the world according to Forbes having amassed a $1.4bn fortune, just behind Taylor Swift.
After an 8-year hiatus, we can’t wait to see what the 36-year-old Barbadian beauty has in store for us with her new music.
LOVE LIFE
Prior to getting with her baby Daddy A$AP Rocky, the ‘Diamonds’ singer had been in and out of relationships with high profile stars for years, including a well-publicised relationship with Chris Brown that ended after 2 years in 2009 when the ‘Freaky Friday’ hitmaker physically assaulted Rihanna. She then had a seven-year, on-off relationship with Drake and a 2015 fling with rapper Travis Scott as well as dating baseball player Matt Kemp for just under a year.
Rihanna first started seeing rapper A$AP Rocky, who she has been friends with since their first 2012 collaboration, in 2019.
It wasn’t until 2021 that the couple officially confirmed their romance though. Speaking to GQ Magazine, 36-year-old Rocky called her “the one” and also described her as “the love of my life.”
The couple have two adorable sons together, RZA who is 2 and Riot Rose who turned 1 in August this year.
Everyone is expecting the 34-year-old to expand her brood even further soon as before she became a mum in 2022, she admitted that she wanted several children, telling Vogue Magazine in an interview in 2020: “I’ll have kids. Three or four of ’em.”
Rihanna was asked by E! News at her Fenty x Puma collab event if there’s anything she can’t do, to which she jokingly replied, “So far, have daughters!” hinting that she and A$AP Rocky are already planning for a third child. “I’m batting at 75 percent for a boy next time. So, we’ll just keep our fingers crossed,” she said.
MUSIC MOGUL
Rihanna started her music career at the age of 15 after she performed for music producer Evan Rogers and Carl Struken in 2003 after flying from the Bahamas to audition.
Her debut album ‘Music of the Sun’ was released by Def Jam in 2005. But it wasn’t until 2007 that the singer gained global recognition with the release of her album ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ and best-selling track ‘Umbrella’. Since then, there has been nothing stopping RiRi to achieving global music star status. With 14 number ones, sales of over 250 million records worldwide, she is now ranked as the second wealthiest ever female musician – beating Madonna and Beyonce.
Rihanna has produced eight albums altogether, the last one called ‘Anti’ back in 2016. She decided to press pause on her music career to pursue her other business interests – namely her fashion and beauty lines.
FASHION FORWARD
Rihanna plays the part of fashion royalty and urban princess seamlessly, which is another part of her wide-ranging appeal. She oozes body confidence, while her hourglass figure and statuesque legs make her every designer’s dream.
She has influenced many fashion trends in the past few years as well as having been inaugurated into the fashion hall of fame. It was only going to be a matter of time till savvy businesswoman Rihanna got in on the action. After taking a break from her music career, Rihanna launched her lingerie brand Savage X Fenty and later she teamed up with luxury fashion group LVMH to launch Fenty in 2019.
Due to Covid she “put on hold” the Fenty fashion commitment and poured all her attention into growing Fenty Beauty (her make-up and skincare range with LVMH’s Kendo) now worth a whopping $2.8bn and the hugely successful Savage X Fenty, reportedly worth £1bn, according to Forbes.
