Rihanna
Oct 10, 2011
From her Caribbean roots to the top of the charts, the runways of Paris and Milan and some of the biggest stages in the world, the 23-year-old, Barbados-born beauty has already earned the coveted title of international superstar. In 2005, Def Jam released Rihanna's dynamic debut album, Music of the Sun, which garnered much attention due to the popularity of her highly addictive dancehall-flavored first single, "Pon de Replay." A year later, she released her platinum-selling second album A Girl Like Me, featuring the #1 singles "SOS" and "Unfaithful." From her breakthrough multi-platinum album A Girl Like Me to her ubiquitous global smash "Umbrella," in just a few short years, Rihanna helped redefine the path of popular music for a new generation.
With two successful albums under her belt in just two years, Rihanna dropped her third album, the multi-platinum Good Girl Gone Bad, in 2007. Rated R was released worldwide in November 2009 and the first single, "Russian Roulette" made chart history for Rihanna, as her 12th Billboard Hot 100 career hit.
Rihanna's extensive accomplishments also include multiple #1 hits, a Grammy for Best Dance Recording for "Only Girl (In The World)," a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Run This Town" and a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella" along with fourteen Grammy nominations, two MTV Video Music Awards, Favorite Pop/Rock & Soul/R&B Female Artist at the American Music Awards, and the European MOBO Award as Best International Act. In all, Rihanna is the recipient of three Grammy Awards, four American Music and World Music and BET Awards, five People's Choice and Teen Choice Awards, MTV VMAs from every region, a BRIT Award for Best International Female Artist in 2011 and an amazing 18 Billboard Music Awards.
With the global album release of Loud in November 2010, Rihanna continues her journey to dominate popular music and fashion worldwide. Loud's first two singles, "What's My Name" (featuring Drake) and "Only Girl (In the World)," were worldwide successes, both solid #1 chart-toppers in the U.S. and UK. "What's My Name," "Only Girl (In the World)" and "S&M" became Rihanna's 8th, 9th, and 10th #1 Billboard Hot 100 hits, respectively. Rihanna now ranks as the only female artist of the past decade to chart ten #1's on the Hot 100 as well as the youngest soloist to notch ten Hot 100 #1's. In the U.S., Loud debuted with the greatest first week sales of any Rihanna album to date, over 207,000 copies, earning RIAA platinum status by January. Loud sold over 6.2 million copies worldwide and hit #1 in six international territories, bringing Rihanna's total album sales to more than 30 million. She has also logged a phenomenal 100 million digital song sales, a number that is still growing every day.
Despite initially stating that Loud will have a re-release, she later announced through her Twitter account that she has decided to release a completely new studio album instead due on November 21, 2011 titled Talk That Talk. The lead single off the album "We Found Love" premiered on September 22 on London radio station Capital FM and was released on the same day for digital download in the US. The new single is blowing up on the charts and leaves fans waiting for the new album to drop.
