09 (13) David Guetta Ft. Rihanna - Who's That Chick? (NEW PEAK)
10 (09) Rihanna - Only Girl (In The World)
33 (29) Eminem feat. Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie
EIGHT years ago life looked pretty bleak for a lanky Barbadian tomboy from a broken home whose dad had been addicted to crack. Fast forward to 2011 and Rihanna - or RiRi as she is nicknamed - is the globe's most successful pop star.
This week Rihanna, 22, made UK chart history by becoming the first female artist to achieve No1 singles in five consecutive years.
Lady GaGa has a lot of catching up to do.
Rihanna's raunchy performance of her single What's My Name on last month's X Factor final was one of the defining pop moments of 2010.
But it has not been an easy journey for the pop princess. Her first two albums never really took off and, after she finally made it with hit single Umbrella, she suffered a horrific attack at the hands of then boyfriend Chris Brown.
But as she approaches her 23rd birthday next month, Rihanna has life well and truly sorted.
She has taken control of her career and her image, clocked up five albums, three of which have been worldwide No1s, and is worth an estimated £143million.
She's even patched things up with her dad.
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Rihanna was born in St Michael, Barbados, in 1988 to Ronald Fenty, a warehouseman and clothing salesman, and Monica, an accountant.
But her parents' relationship fell apart when she was young and they finally divorced in her early teens.
The chaos forced mum Monica to be the main breadwinner for Rihanna and her two younger brothers - Rorrey, now 20 and studying to be an architect, and Rajad, 13, a geek who loves computers.
Her mum's drive and work ethic has been a huge influence on Rihanna's success.
She said: "My mom always told me never to lower my standards for anyone or anything. I was always mature for my years because of the parental part she played."
When Rihanna was a child her father was more worried about where the next rock of crack cocaine was coming from than his relationship with his children.
She said: "My dad left home when I was nine, so I was really young when I was living with his addictions. I didn't understand exactly what was going on but I knew he was doing something he shouldn't.
"My father's life was fairly chaotic and, partly because of his drug problems, there was never much money. My mum worked as an accountant and a lot of the time I was left in charge of my younger brothers. It didn't feel like a burden. It was just reality."
Ronald kicked his drug habit but in her teens Rihanna started to resent him "because I started to realise no child should have to experience what I'd been through".
Two years ago she cut him out of her life after he got drunk while accompanying her to gigs in the US and trashed her tour bus.
This Christmas they buried the hatchet again.
Ronald, 57, said: "Maybe we're not as close as we were when she was growing up here and was at school. But we are blood, we do not stay angry and we are friends again."
Because of her dad, Rihanna has never been tempted by the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. She said: "I'd seen what alcohol and drugs had done to my dad.
"If I go to a club, I go for the sounds. I go out to have fun, to dance and laugh at people fighting or dressed like *****s. I might have a few drinks but I don't get tipsy too easily.
"I don't ever get to the point where I want to throw up, can't stand up straight or say things I'm likely to regret in the morning."
Like many girls of her age, Rihanna grew up obsessed by the big divas - Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Shania Twain. She did some singing with her pals but nothing serious.
Instead, the young Rihanna was known as a tomboy and a nerd who was a member of her local army cadets up to the age of 14. She said: "We'd regularly go off on these weekend expeditions. There was a lot of discipline involved.
"Our uniforms had to be spick and span, our boots had to shine like diamonds and we'd often need to cook for the entire camp."
Her life changed forever the next year when, aged 15, she was introduced to US producer Evan Rogers, who was on holiday in Barbados.
Rihanna and a close friend sang for Evan but he invited just her to his hotel suite at the famous Sandy Lane for a nervous audition where she sang Mariah Carey's Hero and Destiny's Child's Emotions.
She said: "It was a really difficult place to be, because I didn't want to hurt my friend's feelings, I didn't want to betray her, but it was a reality. We had auditioned together, and individually, and that was it."
Evan called a second meeting with Rihanna's mum present then signed her up. The pair worked on a demo over the next year and, aged 16, Rihanna moved to New York to live with Evan and his wife.
The CD they produced caught the ear of Jay-Z, then president of Def Jam Recordings, and at an audition in his office he signed her on the spot. Jay-Z said: "I sign artists based on their swagger and level of talent. She's got both."
Flower power ... teenaged Rihanna
Rihanna first burst on to the music scene with her single Pon de Replay, from debut album Music Of The Sun, in 2005. Second album A Girl Like Me had the hit single SOS.
But things started to really take off for Rihanna when she stopped doing what she was told and started to express herself instead of letting record company bosses call the shots.
She said: "I just felt, hey, here I am, this money-making vehicle for this big label and I'm not even having fun because I'm not able to be who I am.
"Then finally, I said, 'I'm going to do it my way' and I just rebelled, cut my hair, dyed it black, changed my image, changed my sound."
That's when she hit the big time with Umbrella - the soundtrack to summer 2007 - from her third album Good Girl Gone Bad. The song was No1 here for ten weeks.
Rihanna nabbed the song from Britney Spears and Mary J Blige, who the songwriters had in mind. She heard it then marched up to writer Terius Nash at the Grammys, grabbed his face in her hands and told him it was her song.
Sadly, just as her career was riding high her personal life imploded.
Long-term boyfriend Chris Brown beat her up on the night before the Grammys in February 2009. The police picture, which leaked out, showed an unrecognisable young woman covered in bruises.
Rihanna said: "It was the night before the biggest performance of my career, as well as ten days before I became 21.
"It was a turning point. It was the end of an incredible year, an incredible album, the beginning of a new era, and it felt like a wake-up call.
"As bad and as terrible as it was, there's so much great that came out of that situation."
She has never looked back nor touched the ground since.
Rihanna's fourth album, Rated R, came out in November 2009 and has sold more than 3million copies - largely thanks to astonishing singles Rude Boy and Russian Roulette. She embarked on a massive Last Girl On Earth world tour with the album.
Last year Rihanna released the hit single with Eminem Love The Way You Lie. Her fifth album, Loud, followed with singles Only Girl (In The World) and now What's My Name.
Following Rihanna's split from US baseball player Matt Kemp just before Christmas, the only thing missing now is a boyfriend.
It's unlikely she'll have any trouble finding a new one.
