Rihanna

Rihanna was born on February 20, 1988. She was the first person from Barbados to win a Grammy award.

Rihanna’s debut album, Music of the Sun, was released August 28, 2005 from which, further singles were released, the first being “Pon de Replay” which was released on Oct 11, 2005 and reached position #2 in both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart and gained several #1 positions in various niche charts. The single itself was written by Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers alongside Rihanna herself and described by Rolling Stone magazine as a “poppy piece of dancehall reggae with slapping, syncopated beats recalling big-band jazz.” However, despite Pon de Replay’s commercial chart success, the album itself was rated 2½ out of 5 stars by Rolling Stone magazine and described as lacking the replay value, ingenuity and rhythm of the single with “generic vocal hiccups and frills” of US R&B inflecting upon her “Caribbean charm”.

Rihanna released her second album, A Girl like Me, in April 2006; less than eight months after the release of her first album. The album debuted at number five in the U.S. and number four in the UK. The lead single, “SOS”, was used in an endorsement deal with Nike. The song 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. The third single, “We Ride”, wasn’t as successful as her previous releases, failing to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, however, it became her fifth UK top 20 single, where it peaked at number 17 on that chart and peaked number one on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart. Rihanna’s fourth single from the album, “Break It Off” featuring Sean Paul, had already climbed to number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 based solely on airplay. It was released as a digital download on February 19, 2007, which made the song jump from number fifty-two to number ten and then eventually peak at number nine

Rihanna went into the studio in early 2007 with Ne-Yo, Stargate, and Timbaland among others to record her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad. The album was released on June 5, 2007. It features Jay-Z and Ne-Yo as featured artists. Rihanna worked with Timbaland on three songs in the album. Justin Timberlake co-wrote and provides background vocals on “Rehab”. Seven weeks after the album was released, it had gone platinum in the United States and 3x Platinum on the United World Albums Chart.
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