Rihanna Biography, Music, Movies, & Facts

«And it turns out that’s not the case at all … and we just were catching lightning in a bottle with this record.» «I used to kind of have this dark fear that if I ever were truly happy and free being myself and nurtured by a relationship, what happens if the writing just dries up? What if writing is directly tied to my torment and pain?» she said ahead of the album’s release. «Wood» is Swift taking cues from fellow showgirl Carpenter, winking at listeners as she weaves as many innuendos about the word as possible. «The Fate of Ophelia» might be Swift’s best lead single since «Mine» in 2010, thanks to its infectious beat and memorable chorus.
It’s a highlight on The Life of a Showgirl as it’s a testament that, regardless of how much time has passed or the fame that Swift has achieved, she still looks back on those who changed her life early on. Swift doesn’t want you to get it twisted, though — this is an album about the life of a showgirl, not an album about being a performer. She’s no longer anxious in love («Eldest Daughter,» «Honey») and for the first time, she owns all of her work and is in complete artistic control («Father Figure»).

Charts

While the world is still anticipating her ninth studio album, Rihanna — now a mom of two boys — continues to make her own rules and move at her own pace. With the glorious «Lift Me Up,» she found herself in the top 10 for the first time since 2017’s «Wild Thoughts.» Ever since ANTI, Rihanna’s devoted fanbase has been begging for a new album, with Rih playfully trolling them with responses like «I lost it» and Instagram captions that read, «Me listening to R9 by myself and refusing to release it.» Accolades aside, ANTI is proof that magic happens when an artist of Rihanna’s caliber follows their own instincts in pursuit of creating a body of work — one that can outlast them and continue to inspire generations to come. For instance, «Sex with Me» is featured on the deluxe edition as a bonus track, but managed to crack the Hot 100 at No. 83 and reach No. 8 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. Elsewhere on ANTI, Rihanna drunk dials an ex («Higher»), compares smoking weed to her lover («James Joint»), and chastises a guy for getting emotionally attached after their fling («Needed Me»).

Streaming details for Titanic on Starz Roku Premium Channel

Retrospective and reflective, Speak Now is an album about the speeches she could’ve, would’ve and should’ve said. The album’s title track pulled from the saying, «Speak now or forever hold your peace,» inspired by a friend’s ex-boyfriend getting engaged; meanwhile, «Mean» was everything Swift wanted to say to a critic who was continuously harsh about her vocals. Along with having more eyes on her, Swift also felt pressured to maintain her persona as a perfect young female role model amid a time when her peers like Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato were attempting to rebrand to be more mature and sexier. But this meant that she faced more publicity and criticism, from naysayers who nitpicked her songwriting and vocals to the infamous Kanye West incident at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards.

• The song earned her nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Song.
• Lead single «We Found Love» is undeniably the biggest hit to stem from the Talk That Talk era, spending 10 consecutive weeks atop the Hot 100.
• Through lead single «Russian Roulette» and bitingly catchy anthems «Stupid in Love,» «Fire Bomb,» «Photographs,» «Cold Case Love,» and «The Last Song,» Rihanna explored her angst and confusion.
• Much like her previous two albums, Swift included songs that were both inspired by her own life and being a fly on the wall.
• This hit catapulted her to international fame, earning her first Grammy Award and redefined her image as a confident and edgy artist.
• Adopting a more mature image, Rihanna rose to stardom and transitioned to dance-pop and R&B with the album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) and its reissue, subtitled Reloaded (2008).

Rihanna returned to her more upbeat sound with her fifth studio album, Loud, which was released on November 12, 2010. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 181,000 copies in its first week. The incident and its aftermath influenced her artistically, prompting her to begin work on her fourth studio album, titled Rated R, one month after the Grammy Awards. The reissue of Good Girl Gone Bad, subtitled Reloaded, was released on June 2; selling 63,000 copies in its first week, it helped the original album rise to number seven in the US. The resulting album, Good Girl Gone Bad, was released on May 31, 2007, to critical acclaim. Aiming to dismiss her girl-next-door image in favour of a more mature and rebellious persona, she worked with such producers as Ne-Yo, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and Tricky Stewart for the album.
Highly regarded as Swift’s magnum opus, Red sees the singer shed the fairytale dresses and the girl-next-door persona to craft a body of work that has now been deemed as her first «adult» record. Writing the entire album herself, Swift used Speak Now to prove her songwriting prowess to those who questioned her capabilities. For the first time since becoming an artist, she was forced to reckon with the concept of celebrity and how turning into one — whether she wanted it or not — informed her own writing and perception of herself. On the album’s liner notes, Swift says Fearless is about «living in spite» of the things that scare you, like falling in love again despite being hurt before or walking away and letting go.
Off stage, though, she was falling in love again — this time with someone who championed her just as much as the fans did in the areas. It’s apt that she would turn to Max Martin and Shellback, her 1989 and reputation collaborators, to bring that same captivating pop soundscape to The Life of a Showgirl and to capture some of the energy Swift was experiencing. And after two decades in the business, the 14-time GRAMMY winner is giving everyone a glimpse of what she describes as «the most infectiously joyful, wild, dramatic» chapter of her life thus far.
The line debuted in a Paris pop-up on May 22 before a worldwide online release seven days later, featuring clothing, accessories, and footwear. It included an array of products including foundations, highlighters, bronzers, blush compacts, lip glosses, and blotting sheets, and was praised for offering shades that catered to all skin tones. The $10 million partnership produced a wide range of beauty products, with the first collection released on September 8, 2017, in stores and online across more than 150 countries. Over the next two years, she released a variety of footwear in different styles and colourways, all receiving positive responses from critics and consumers alike. Rihanna went on to collaborate with numerous fashion houses, including Dior, Stance, and Manolo Blahnik. She also established a photography agency, A Dog Ate My Homework, representing photographers Erik Asla and Deborah Anderson.

Acting Career and Appearances

In the United States, it is currently more popular than Come and See but less popular than Shutter. The movie has moved up the charts by 179 places since yesterday. The pair meet and fall in love on the Titanic, the greatest ship to sail the oceans. Rose is a high-society young woman who is being forced into a loveless marriage with a wealthy man.
More than its predecessor, Fearless blurs the line between country and pop thanks to crossover hits like «Love Story» and «You Belong With Me,» yet still keeps the confessional attributes known in country songwriting. Even as a new country artist, critics claimed that she «mastered» the genre while subsequently ushering it to a new era — one that would soon see Swift dabble in country-pop. One writer in particular, Liz Rose, applauded Swift’s songwriting capabilities, stating that she was more of an «editor» for the songs because Swift already had such a distinct vision.
Her debut album, «Music of the Sun,» further solidified her presence, selling over two million copies worldwide and setting the stage for her meteoric rise in the years to come. Jay-Z was immediately captivated, signing her on the spot and launching her career in the music industry. Her journey from a small island to the bustling music scene of America marked the beginning of her transformational career. Relocating from her home in Barbados to Connecticut, she stayed with music producer Evan Rogers and his wife.
It topped the charts in several territories, spending ten consecutive weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart and seven at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, selling 162,000 copies in its first week. Regarded as a turning point in her career, it marked a shift from the Caribbean-influenced sound of her earlier work, embracing a more contemporary pop direction driven by uptempo dance tracks. It became her first RIAA-certified double platinum album, surpassing one million units sold. Soon after releasing Music of the Sun, Rihanna began working on her second studio album in September 2005.
The thing that differentiated her from other writers — and still does to this day — is her songwriting. The world now knows Taylor Swift as a global pop superstar, but back in 2006, she was just a doe-eyed country prodigy. Despite its ghoulish title, artificial intelligence appears to be the object of terror in what many, including the GRAMMY voters who awarded it Best Pop Duo/Group Performance in 2024, regard as the highlight of SZA’s sophomore. But four years after the Team Edward vs Team Jacob saga wrapped up, folk hero Jason Isbell proved mythical bloodsuckers weren’t a barrier to awards success. David Bowie fans may well feel aggrieved that his post-punk classic «Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)» was entirely ignored by GRAMMY voters, while the bro-step banger it inspired was showered betista casino with awards. It’s a bold feminist act that helped power parent album CrazySexyCool to diamond status and was deservedly rewarded with Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal at the 1996 GRAMMYS (where CrazySexyCool was also crowned Best R&B Album).

An Unapologetic Queen

Through her fashion ventures, Rihanna has become one of the wealthiest musicians; in 2021, she became the richest female musician at the time, with a net worth of $1.7 billion. Around the time of her second album A Girl Like Me (2006), critics often compared her style and sound to that of Beyoncé. She credits that song with sparking her passion for music and partly attributes her presence in the industry to Houston. She also mentioned that one of the earliest songs she developed an affection for was Houston’s rendition of «I Will Always Love You» (1992). As a child, she sang Whitney Houston songs and «A Whole New World» (1992) into her hairbrush so frequently that her neighbors started calling her «Robyn Redbreast». She deemed him one of her all-time favourite artists, crediting him with «paving the way for every other artist out of the Caribbean».

• Rihanna has received multiple Grammy Award nominations for her albums, winning Best Urban Contemporary Album for Unapologetic in 2014.
• Comparatively, «Eldest Daughter» — track five, a spot Swift notoriously reserves for the most emotional song — is a love song about the masks we wear and the selves we choose to reveal.
• Eventually, her bold move to the United States at 16 years old marked the beginning of her journey to stardom, as she pursued her passion for singing and songwriting with determination.
• While half of The Life of a Showgirl’s 12 tracks peer into the darker corners of fame and explores the loneliness, scrutiny and fractures that used to come with it, the other half are dedicated to falling completely head over heels.
• The album’s lead single, «Diamonds», topped the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Rihanna’s twelfth number-one song on the chart.
• Although the album is a departure from the two pandemic sister albums, the overall creation process didn’t differ too much.

She also won her first GRAMMY in 2008 (Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for «Umbrella») and scored four other nominations, including Record Of The Year. Good Girl Gone Bad remains Rihanna’s best-selling album and marks her greatest reinvention as she adopted a more rebellious sound. The melancholy «Rehab» is a clever metaphor for lost love, co-written by Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. Produced by Tricky Stewart, the LP’s juggernaut lead single «Umbrella» featuring Jay-Z skyrocketed to No. 1 in 17 countries. Her official introduction to the world also hit No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart; she boasts 33 on the tally, second behind only the Queen of Pop herself, Madonna.
Janelle Monáe featured Nancy not once but twice on 2023’s Album Of The Year-nominated The Age Of Pleasure, and sampled «Bam Bam» on “Water Slide.» In further recognition of her impact, Burberry asked Sister Nancy to participate in their spring/summer 2024 campaign, which was shot in Jamaica. She’s performed on global stages and can be seen regularly at New York hotspots such as Union Pool, Public Records, and S.O.B.’s. After hearing Nancy on Hot 97’s «Ebro In The Morning,» Jay-Z flew the legend to Jamaica to sing and feature in his hybrid music video-documentary. Kanye West prominently sampled «Bam Bam» in the Rihanna-featuring «Famous»; Nancy’s chorus comes in midway through the song, adding an ethereal quality to West’s braggadocio. With her rights restored, Sister Nancy’s trajectory changed dramatically in the latter half of the 2010s — due in no small part to nods and samples from two of hip-hop’s biggest artists. «I just couldn’t take no more. I just say it’s time for me to be compensated, and I just did what I had to do,» the icon says of her legal battle for royalties.

Songs Taylor Swift Wrote About Being A Showgirl

The singer/songwriter also picked up a Best Traditional Pop GRAMMY in 2024 for her second LP, an immaculate collection of jazz, pop and classical that bridged the gap between Gen-Z and the Great American Songbook. Still, as a love song dedicated to wife Amanda Shires — and the quiet acceptance that the Grim Reaper will inevitably end their story — it’s certainly no less emotional. Just four years after picking up five GRAMMY nominations for their transatlantic chart-topper «Love the Way You Lie,» unlikely dream team Eminem and Rihanna once again joined forces for another hip-pop masterclass. Traditional Appalachian folk song «O Death» had previously been recorded by the likes of gospel vocalist Bessie Jones, folklorist Mike Seeger and Californian rockers Camper Van Beethoven, just to name a few. The King of Pop picked up a whopping 11 nominations for his first blockbuster album, Thriller, and then converted seven of them into wins, including Album Of The Year. Considering how perfectly Mike Oldfield’s prog-rock epic Tubular Bells complements all-time classic horror flick The Exorcist, it’s remarkable to think that it was recorded before director William Friedkin came calling.
Seven years into an already extraordinary career, 2012’s Unapologetic became Rihanna’s first album to debut at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. With this feat, she became the youngest artist to attain the most chart-toppers in a five-year span. That same carefree spirit can be heard in the feminist track «Raining Men,» which features Nicki Minaj — their first of two collabs, as they joined forces again for «Fly,» the final single off the rapper’s iconic Pink Friday album. While «What’s My Name?» may not outshine Rih and Drizzy’s other collabs — including 2011’s «Take Care» or 2016’s «Work» — the second she sings, «Hey, boy, I really wanna see if you can go downtown with a girl like me,» it’s impossible not to whine your waist to the riddim. Through lead single «Russian Roulette» and bitingly catchy anthems «Stupid in Love,» «Fire Bomb,» «Photographs,» «Cold Case Love,» and «The Last Song,» Rihanna explored her angst and confusion. Rihanna was a familiar face by 2007, but with the arrival of her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad, she graduated from cookie-cutter pop star to bonafide icon.
Rihanna has faced personal challenges, including a highly publicized incident of domestic violence with former boyfriend Chris Brown. With these endeavors combined with her musical empire, Rihanna has not only cemented her legacy in music but also positioned herself as a powerful icon in the world of entrepreneurship. The singer launched her makeup line, Fenty Beauty, in 2017, gaining instant popularity for its extensive range of shades catering to all skin tones. This wealth is a result of her multifaceted career, which extends beyond music to include ventures in fashion, beauty, and film. Rihanna, one of the most successful pop stars of her generation, has amassed an impressive net worth estimated to be around $1.7 billion, according to Forbes. Rihanna’s romantic life has often made headlines, with notable relationships sparking both admiration and intrigue.