Rihanna

Rihanna is a Barbadian recording artist, actress, and fashion designer. Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, she met record producer Evan Rogers in late 2003, and the next year moved to the US to pursue a music career. She began recording demo tapes under Rogers' guidance, and signed a contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for its president, rapper Jay-Z.

Rihanna's debut album, Music of the Sun (2005), featuring the Billboard Hot 100 top three hit single "Pon de Replay", peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart. Her second album, A Girl Like Me (2006), peaked at number five in the US, and included her first Hot 100 number one single, "SOS". Her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), spawned the international hits "Umbrella", "Don't Stop the Music", "Take a Bow", and "Disturbia". The album was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella".

Rihanna's work has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including six Grammy Awards, five American Music Awards, 22 Billboard Music Awards, and two BRIT Awards. She has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, which makes her one of the best-selling artists of all time. She has achieved twelve number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the youngest solo artist to achieve the feat. Billboard named her the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade, ranking her seventeenth overall. In 2012,Forbes named her as the fourth most powerful celebrity of 2012, with earnings of $53 million between May 2011 and May 2012. The same year, TIME named Rihanna one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.