From singing into a hairbrush to selling millions of albums worldwide, Rihanna’s story is a mixed bag of strength, luck, and perseverance.
Now thriving as a business mogul, a fashion icon and music idol, she often refers to her childhood struggles as the driving force behind her many ventures. Her life wasn’t always about making headlines and performing concerts. On the contrary, Rihanna’s story begins on a small island with a drug-addicted father and a producer who didn’t think she could sing.
Here is Rihanna’s life story:
Growing up in a troubled home
Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20th in 1988, in Saint Michael Parish on the island of Barbados. She was the eldest child born to humble parents. Her mother worked as an accountant and her father was a warehouse supervisor.
Rihanna grew up in a small bungalow along with her two younger brothers. Money was always low throughout her childhood. Yet her father would come home drunk having spent half his paycheck on alcohol and crack. His addictions put tremendous strain on the family and his drug-induced tempers would often turn physical. While her mother was the primary target, on one occasion he turned on Rihanna after she asked to stay 10 more minutes at the beach.
When her father lost his job, everything got worse. Food became scarce, the house was littered with drug paraphernalia, and Rihanna would walk in on her father smoking crack. She closed herself off and would barely speak to anyone. It became so stressful that she suffered from intense headaches, which led to countless exams and the belief that she had a tumour.
At school, things weren’t much better. Rihanna was a bright student, particularly in math and chemistry, but her grades began to decline. She was constantly bullied over her light complexion – due to her father’s Irish descendence. But Rihanna had been toughened by her father’s behaviour and would settle the tauntings with her fists.
At seven years old, Rihanna found an escape from her life’s chaos. She’d turn on the radio and sing into a hairbrush along with her idols Madonna, Mariah Carey, and Janet Jackson. During these short-lived moments of happiness, Rihanna felt like she belonged. She knew in her heart that her future was in music – although it seemed unlikely to happen while on the small island.
A teen with a dream
At 14, her parents divorced and she was finally free from her crippling headaches. But now her mother had to work full-time, meaning Rihanna had to grow up fast. She helped make ends meet by working a cash register and selling clothes in a stall on the street.
Rihanna was now the primary caretaker of her youngest brother, but she also nurtured her love of music. She drew inspiration from reggae legend Bob Marley, who she considered an example to follow for aspiring artists in the Caribbean.
As time passed, Rihanna couldn’t shake the feeling that she could become a star if only the right person heard her sing. So she raised her chances by singing at the beach, at social gatherings, and at her high school talent show – which she won after singing Mariah Carey’s “Hero”.
Although becoming a singing sensation wasn’t her only aspiration at the time. Growing up with brothers also gave her the need to prove she was tough. She embraced a tomboy dress sense and became a cadet, rising to the rank of corporal. After years of bullying and witnessing her father’s abusive behaviour, Rihanna refused to appear vulnerable to anyone – an attitude she upholds to this day.
First big break
At 15, Rihanna formed a musical trio with her classmates. They performed at every possible venue, mostly covering songs by Destiny’s Child. One day, Rihanna’s friend revealed that her mother was acquainted with the record producer Evan Rogers, who just happened to be on holiday in Barbados with his wife. Rihanna jumped at the opportunity and asked her friend to set up an audition. The trio had no band name or formal training, but she couldn’t miss the chance to be heard.
Soon after, the group arrived at Evan Rogers’ hotel suite and waited nervously in the lobby. Rihanna fidgeted while deeply regretting her fashion choice of pink capris with a pink shirt. She hoped her makeup looked passable, considering her mother had never allowed her to wear makeup before.
Finally, the three girls were called in. As soon as Rihanna stepped inside, Evan was instantly taken by her Bajan beauty. Her fierce, green eyes and carefully applied makeup graced her with a presence that made him forget the two other girls existed. However, from experience, Evan suspected “the pretty one” of the group couldn’t sing.
He was wrong. The group performed two songs, and it was clear to Evan that Rihanna was meant for music. The audition ended, he thanked the girls and sent them on their way. It was unclear whether he would follow up or not, but Rihanna clung to the hope that he would.
Soon enough, Evan called and requested that Rihanna and her mother fly over to the United States for a demo recording. Rihanna was over the moon, and after a few visits, she gained her mother’s permission to move to Connecticut and live with Evan and his wife while she recorded her very first album.
You may never be good enough for everybody, but you will always be the best for somebody.
The debut that topped the charts
Over the next year, 16-year-old Rihanna recorded four tracks, including a bubbly dancehall jam called “Pon de Replay“. The demo was sent out to various labels, one being Def Jam Recordings, where rapper Jay Z was just appointed as CEO. The rapper was impressed but considered the songs were ‘too big’ for the girl singing them. Nevertheless, Jay Z asked her to audition for him so he could see for himself.
Rihanna was now 17 and already on her way to audition for her first record label. She had spent the entire night choosing an outfit and was shaking at the thought of singing in front of Jay Z. Although the moment she began to sing Whitney Housten’s “For the Love of You”, Jay Z was sold. He could tell by the resolute look in her eyes that she was going to be a star – with or without him. So he asked her to sign with his label. They ended up staying until 3 am sifting through all the details of the contract. But Rihanna didn’t mind, her life-long dream was officially afoot.
Over the following month, Rihanna happily worked with various producers to complete her debut album. She chose her favourite track “Pon de Replay” as the lead single and in May 2005, it came second on the US Billboard and was among the top five hits worldwide. Rihanna was now on the map and quickly became a recognized name in the music industry.
Only eight months later, Rihanna released her second album A Girl Like Me, which launched two more hits. The track “SOS” became her first number-one single and went Platinum. But before the glitz and glam of fame swept Rihanna away, Jay Z gave her a few words of advice which she still follows today,
Don’t change who you are, never forget where you came from, and always stay humble.
Business ventures and influencing generations
Despite her young age, Rihanna’s dream of getting her music out into the world falls short of her current reality. Within a decade, she has become a best-selling songwriter, singer, and actress. She has sold over 540 million albums worldwide, won countless awards, and is the youngest solo artist to score 14 Billboard music hits. She has appeared in Hollywood blockbusters, is named a major cultural influencer, and even has a national holiday under her name in Barbados.
But Rihanna has never been one to settle. She has also established herself as an edgy entrepreneur in the realms of fashion and beauty. Her latest business venture being her new cosmetic company Fenty Beauty, the first makeup line to offer a largely diverse variety of skin shades.
For all the wealth and fame she has gathered since her debut, Rihanna is eager to put her influence to good use. At only 18, she created Believe Foundation to help terminally ill children. From then on, she has funded countless charity ventures for causes ranging from cancer research to medical supplies for disaster victims. Former President Barack Obama has personally praised her work, stating “You’ve become a powerful force in the fight to give people dignity.”
With a headstrong character and a heart of gold, Rihanna is in a league of her own. She maintains a tenacious resolve to live her life on her own terms while helping others and inspiring upcoming generations to do more. Regardless of the bumps along the way, Rihanna is proud to say she always follows her heart and encourages you to do the same.
When Rihanna, launched Fenty Beauty in 2017, she sought to create a cosmetics company that made “women everywhere (feel) included.” A perhaps unintended consequence: The beauty line has helped her enter one of the world’s most exclusive ranks: Billionaire.
Rihanna is now worth $1.7 billion, Forbes estimates—making her the wealthiest female musician in the world and second only to Oprah Winfrey as the richest female entertainer. But it’s not her music that’s made her so wealthy. The bulk of her fortune (an estimated $1.4 billion) comes from the value of Fenty Beauty, of which Forbes can now confirm she owns 50%. Much of the rest lies in her stake in her lingerie company, Savage x Fenty, worth an estimated $270 million, and her earnings from her career as a chart-topping musician and actress.
While Barbados-born Rihanna isn’t the only celebrity to capitalize on her social media presence—she has 101 million followers on Instagram and 102.5 million on Twitter—to build a beauty brand, she is the most successful beauty entrepreneur to do so. Fenty Beauty, which is a 50-50 joint venture with French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH (run by Bernard Arnault, the world’s second-richest person), launched in 2017 with the goal of inclusivity. Its products come in a diverse range of colour-foundation is offered in 50 shades, including harder-to-find darker shades for women of colour—and are modelled in its advertising by an equally diverse group of people.
Available online and at Sephora stores, which are also owned by LVMH, the products were an instant success. By 2018, its first full calendar year, the line was bringing in more than $550 million in annual revenues, according to LVMH, beating out other celebrity-founded brands like Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics, Kim Kardashian West’s KKW Beauty and Jessica Alba’s Honest Co.
“A lot of women felt there were no lines out there that catered to their skin tone. It was light, medium, medium dark, dark,” says Shannon Coyne, co-founder of consumer products consultancy Bluestock Advisors. “We all know that’s not reality. She was one of the first brands that came out and said, ‘I want to speak to all of those different people.’”
While cosmetics sales slowed during the pandemic, beauty companies are worth as much as ever. Stocks of larger beauty conglomerates like Estée Lauder and L’Oréal have bounced back, reaching all-time highs and trading at impressive 7.5 (or more) times annual revenues. Meanwhile, independent brands like Beautycounter and Charlotte Tilbury inked deals with investment firms earlier this year at billion-dollar valuations.
That is good news for Rihanna. Thanks to the impressive multiples at which beauty companies are trading, Fenty Beauty is worth a conservative $2.8 billion, Forbes estimates. And all signs point to the company continuing to grow. In its annual report for 2020, LVMH said Fenty Skin, which launched last year, was off to a “very promising start” and “generated unprecedented buzz,” and that Fenty Beauty “maintained its appeal as a premier makeup brand.”
Fenty Beauty isn’t Rihanna’s only billion-dollar brand. In February her lingerie line Savage x Fenty raised $115 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation. The company, which launched in 2018 as a joint venture with TechStyle Fashion Group, counts blue-chip investors like Jay-Z’s Marcy Venture Partners and private equity firm L. Catterton (in which Bernard Arnault is an investor) as shareholders. Rihanna maintains a 30% ownership stake, Forbes estimates. The latest round of funding will reportedly be used for customer acquisition and retail expansion.
Not that everything Rihanna touches turns to gold. In February, LVMH and Rihanna confirmed in a statement to Forbes that they had shut down their other venture, a high-end fashion and accessories house also called Fenty. Launched in 2019, Fenty sought to extend Rihanna’s brand of inclusivity and offer styles in a range of sizes. But like many luxury fashion brands, the high-priced line suffered during the pandemic, releasing its last collection in November 2020.
The only complaint some fans may have about her career as a fashion and beauty mogul? It keeps her busy. The singer, who used to release an album almost every year, hasn’t released a new album since 2016’s Anti.
From a financial perspective, that may be just fine: “She is creating a brand outside of herself. It’s not just about Rihanna,” says consultant Coyne. “Even if you don’t like her music, she’s created a real style in the fashion and beauty space.”
When you follow the things that feel great to you, you can never lose.
