Rihanna

Some artists are simply known by one name, and that is the case for the singer and actress Rihanna. Her full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty and she was born February 20th, 1988. She is also a well-known fashion designer and promoter. Many women love to copy her sense of style.

She was discovered by Evan Rogers in 2003 who urged her to create some demo tapes for him. She was living in Barbados and he encouraged her to come to the USA. He got her a contract with Def Jam Records. She auditioned for the rapper, Jay-Z and he was quite taken by her.

Her first album was released in 2005 and at one point it featured 3 singles on the top 100 chart. The albums kept coming and by 2012 she has 7 albums already completed, with a variety of hits that were regularly played on the radio. Her first #1 hit was a duet with rapper Eminem called I Love the Way you Lie from her album in 2012.

Madonna is one of her idols, stating that she loves the way that she will do music and performing her way. She doesn’t care what the critics say and that she continues to grow professionally over time. In 2010, she pursued professional voice lessons for the first time and feels it has done a great deal to both enhance and to preserve her voice.

The relationship between Rihanna and Chris Brown has brought her a great deal of attention. Due to the violent nature of the relationship, she has started working with advocates to promote domestic violence awareness. She wants to spread the word that it can happen at any age group, within any race, and with any type of financial situation that the couple has.

Rihanna has also shared that growing up; her own family was dealing with domestic violence. Her father was very violent to her mother and to the children. He was addicted to various drugs and it took many years for her mother to decide to get a divorce. She was 14 when her parents split.

In 2006, she founded the Believe Foundation to help raise funds for terminally ill children. She is estimated to be worth $53 million. Her donations and her time dedicated to various charities has earned her a spot on Time Magazine’s top 100 Most Influential People for 2012.

photo credits: flickr.com