Currently certified sextuple Platinum, ANTI also remains the longest-charting album by a Black female artist on the Billboard 200, with more than 508 weeks and counting. Despite the success of singles here and there and a buzzy Super Bowl halftime performance in 2023, she has focused her attention on her beauty brand Fenty Beauty and lingerie brand Savage X Fenty. Twenty years after she released her debut album, Rihanna is back with new music. Yes, Rihanna has won multiple awards, including several Grammy Awards and MTV awards for her outstanding contributions to music.
The lead single, «Work», topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, with the third and fourth singles, «Needed Me» and «Love on the Brain», peaking within the top ten. With an eclectic blend of genres such as pop, dancehall, and psychedelic soul, Anti peaked at number one on the Billboard 200, marking her second chart-topping record in the US. It spent ten non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making it both Rihanna’s longest-running chart-topping single and the longest-running number one song in the US in 2011. To support the album, Rihanna launched the Loud Tour in June 2011, which included a record-breaking ten sold-out shows at The O2 Arena in London—the most by a female artist in the venue’s history.
- Swift also found a new sense of creativity within this new mindset, one where she aimed to still embed playful themes in her songwriting but with less snark than that of «Blank Space» and «Look What You Made Me Do.» Leaning into Lover being a «love letter to love,» Swift explored every aspect of it.
- Now that the curtain is up and The Life of a Showgirl is out, read on for five key essential insights from Taylor Swift’s new album.
- And even despite matching the 1.2 million first-week sales of her previous releases, some concluded that the album was her first commercial failure when compared to 1989.
- Throughout a total of 31 tracks, the prolific songwriter shelved the glittery pop radio-friendly tunes in favor of more subdued, synthy and heart-wrenching songs.
- Although Swift said that the album has its vindictive moments — even declaring that the «old Taylor» is dead on the bridge of «Look What You Made Me Do» — it’s a vulnerable record for her.
- She recalled performing Carey’s 1993 song «Hero» at her high school talent show.
Fashion trailblazers A$AP Rocky and Rihanna now have matching CFDA fashion icon awards
Rihanna has released numerous hits, including «Umbrella,» «Diamonds,» «We Found Love,» and «Disturbia.» Rihanna began her music career at the age of 16 when she signed with Def Jam records. In addition to her chart-topping hits, Rihanna has capitalized on her fame with lucrative endorsement deals and her own successful brands, including Fenty Beauty, which revolutionized the beauty industry with its inclusive products. As a pioneer of the music industry, her earnings from album sales, touring, and streaming have consistently placed her among the top earners in entertainment. As an expectant mother, Rihanna continues to inspire her fans, demonstrating a balance between her music career and her personal life.
In August 2021, Forbes announced that Rihanna had become one of the richest entertainers in the world, estimating her net worth to be $1.7 billion at the time following the success of her cosmetic company. In lieu of another album, the singer-turned-entrepreneur, born Robyn Fenty, launched Fenty Beauty in 2017 in partnership with luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, which also preceded a short-lived luxury fashion line. «20 years ago, i left my country, my culture, my food, and family to embark on a journey that started with the release of my very first body of music!» she wrote in an Instagram caption alongside a montage of her biggest career moments. Rihanna officially becomes a billionaire and Forbes names her the ‘richest female musician’
How Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ Ignited Her Pop Stardom
In contrast to the fairytale motifs and happy endings of Fearless, evermore saw Swift become fixated on «unhappy» endings — stories of failed marriages («happiness»), lifeless relationships («tolerate it»), and one-time flings («‘tis the damn season»). Like its (literally) folklorian sister, evermore was a surprise release at the end of 2020, marking the first time Swift didn’t have distinct «eras» between albums. It was exciting enough for Swifties to experience one surprise album drop from Swift, an artist who typically has an entire album campaign calculated. At the 2021 GRAMMYs, folklore took home Album Of The Year, making her the fourth artist in history to win three times in the Category. After its release, folklore became the best-selling album of 2020 after selling 1.2 million records. Lover became Swift’s sixth No. 1 album in America, making her the first female artist to achieve the feat.
In 2015, Rihanna became the first artist in history to have 100 million singles digitally downloaded and streamed. Interestingly, Unapologetic was the first Rihanna album to hit No. 1 on the pop charts. “Umbrella” topped the Billboard singles chart and earned Rihanna her first Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. In 2007, Rihanna effected a transformation from teen pop princess to superstar and sex symbol with her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, fueled by its smash hit lead single “Umbrella,” featuring Jay-Z. In early 2011 the album’s sexually provocative single “S&M” became her 10th number one Billboard hit—which made her, at age 23, the youngest artist ever to reach that milestone.
Rihanna has worked with music video director Anthony Mandler on seventeen music videos, the first being «Unfaithful» (2006). Rihanna was also influenced by artists such as Janet Jackson, Aaliyah, Beyoncé, Celine Dion, Grace Jones, Lil’ Kim, Prince, and Brandy. In her youth, Rihanna often watched Bob Marley on television due to his popularity in the Caribbean. Rihanna identified Brandy’s fourth album, Afrodisiac (2004), as a primary source of inspiration for her album Good Girl Gone Bad. After moving to the US, she was exposed to a wide range of musical genres, which she said had a profound effect on her.
The Tortured Poets Department proves that in the throughline of Taylor Swift’s many artistic eras is a commitment to exploration and a love of autobiographical lyricism. Celebrating her genre-defying and varied discography through The Eras Tour has resulted in old songs having a resurgence, new inside jokes and Easter eggs within the fandom, and a plethora of new listeners being exposed to Swift’s work. Country songs like «cowboy like me» and «no body, no crime» reaches back to Swift’s earlier work in narrative building, seamlessly crafting a three-party story with ease.
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That year, fans also got their first glimpse of the pop superstar alongside Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, and Anne Hathaway in trailers for Ocean’s 8, a female-led spinoff of the popular Ocean’s Trilogy which hit theaters in June 2018. It also spawned the popular radio hits “Needed Me” and “Love on the Brain.” At the 2014 Grammy Awards, Unapologetic won Best Urban Contemporary Album, marking the singer’s first win in an album category. In November 2012, Rihanna scored her first No. 1 album with Unapologetic. The pop star delivered her next effort, Talk That Talk, in November 2011. Rihanna returned back and better than ever in November 2010 with her fifth studio album, Loud.
Following the career-pivoting Rated R, 2010’s Loud offered a welcome return to the West Indian artist’s earlier sound. Rated R showcased Rihanna’s undeniable star power, and allowed her to shed her good-girl image once and for all. Badgal RiRi returned to her dancehall roots on her fifth No. 1 «Rude Boy,» which offsets the album’s harrowing motif. The singer had grown in leaps and bounds while taking musical risks, even penning nine of Rated R’s 13 tracks (she had no writing credits on Good Girl Gone Bad). Following three multi-platinum albums in a three-year span, Rihanna’s rebranding as a rebel at heart reached its apex.
- Less than a year later, when Rihanna was only 16 years old, she left Barbados to move in with Rogers and his wife in Connecticut and work on recording a demo album.
- In September 2012, the music video for «We Found Love» won Video of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards, making Rihanna the first woman to receive the honour more than once.
- On Talk That Talk (2011), Rihanna expanded on her dance-pop style while adopting a more overtly sexual persona and incorporating elements of R&B, hip-hop, dancehall, and dubstep.
- Yes, Rihanna has won multiple awards, including several Grammy Awards and MTV awards for her outstanding contributions to music.
- And «Haunted,» a poetic lament to unrequited love («Rose perfume, low-lit room/ I’ll pretend you’ll stay forever») soundtracked by shuffling bossa nova beats and sultry strings, casts its most potent musical spell.
- She has sold over 60 million albums worldwide, landed 14 Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers, and won nine GRAMMY Awards.
An interpolation of Toots and the Maytals’ 1966 song of the same name, Sister Nancy’s in-studio freestyle was laid over sparse rub-a-dub production, allowing her declaration of ambition and skill to ring loud and clear. In addition to her status as a rare female voice in a sea of male performers at the dawn of dancehall, Sister Nancy is recognized for her influential, highly sampled single «Bam Bam.» While Sister Nancy needn’t be reminded of her influence — «I’m the woman who created dancehall … on the mic system, around the sound system. I’m the one who did all of that, first» — the past 15 years have seen the artist receive her flowers on a global stage. «I will never be your ordinary thing. When you come to see me, it doesn’t matter the time or the space, it’s always going to be good.» «People love what I stand for. I always give the audience something they can think about,» Sister Nancy tells GRAMMY.com, Zooming in from a car in Midtown Manhattan.
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.
Images
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). Known for her artistic reinventions, she is an influential figure in both music and fashion. She’s closing a chapter of her life — saying goodbye to the heartbreaks, pleading and scrutiny — and embracing a new, well, era that was quietly created during the behind-the-scenes of The Eras Tour. At its heart, The Life of a Showgirl goes beyond the fame, accolades, praise, and anything else Swift has been awarded in her 20-year career. Swift herself has long embodied independence through redefining over and over what it means to be a pop star for over two decades.
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. Her longing continues in «Where Have You Been,» which flaunts Rihanna’s versatility, flipping Geoff Mack’s 1959 country song «I’ve Been Everywhere» into an infectious EDM banger. It was especially refreshing to see Rihanna emerge from one of the darkest periods of her life as exuberant as ever.
Gleefully playing the witch doctor, prolific singer/bassist betista casino Esperanza Spalding individually released every song (and an accompanying video) from her seventh album across 11 days before serving up its cauldron of genre-hopping sounds in full. (Rih recorded an equally moving sequel for her Loud album.) Three years later, the two confronted their inner demons in «The Monster,» and their musical chemistry scored a GRAMMY in 2015 for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. Final single «Te Amo» didn’t chart, but garnered a great deal of attention as the Latin-infused Stargate production depicts Rihanna being enticed by a female love interest. It also marked Rihanna’s first time veering away from her «girl next door» image, as the song’s subject matter deals with infidelity. Follow-up single «If It’s Lovin’ That You Want» stalled at No. 36 on the Hot 100, but still whetted fans’ appetite — as did her debut album, Music of the Sun, which is mostly comprised of dance-pop and dancehall tracks with hints of R&B (like «Willing to Wait»). Shortly after her 16th birthday, Rihanna left her home country for the U.S. to record a demo, which included her breakthrough hit «Pon de Replay.» The demo found its way into Jay-Z’s hands, and Hov signed the teen artist to Def Jam and the label expedited her 2005 debut album, aptly titled Music of the Sun.
In 2016, it was confirmed that Rihanna would release her music through her own label, Westbury Road Entertainment, founded in 2005 and named after her childhood home in Barbados. Including Beyoncé and Jay-Z, 16 artist stakeholders co-own Tidal, most of whom own a 3% equity stake. He highlighted her multifaceted career, «from her business achievements through Fenty to her tremendous record as an activist and philanthropist».
Early Life
And yet, she has still come out the other side, sparkling, self-assured and ready to revel in a career built on resilience and reinvention — something only a true showgirl could achieve. When she announced the album, she declared, «And baby, that’s showbiz for you.» No one knows that better than someone who has been through the ringer in the industry like Swift has. What is most apparent on the album, though, is just how much Swift embraces every aspect of who she is.
Videography and stage
This initial success paved the way for her subsequent albums and chart-topping singles, solidifying her status as a pop powerhouse. Just months later, Rihanna released her first single, «Pon de Replay,» which quickly climbed the charts and established her as a formidable newcomer in pop music. The pop star has an impressive 64 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including 14 No. 1 hits and 32 tracks in the top 10.
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.
Although Jay-Z initially thought «Pon de Replay» was too big for a new artist, he invited her to audition. Rihanna’s demo was sent to rapper Jay-Z, who had just become the president and CEO of the record label Def Jam Recordings. In 2005, she became the first artist to sign with Syndicated Rhythm Productions, the production company founded by Rogers and Carl Sturken. Unnamed and without original material, the girl group auditioned for American producer Evan Rogers, who recalled that «the minute Rihanna walked into the room, it was like the other two girls didn’t exist». Though she initially planned to finish high school, she ultimately dropped out at age 16 to pursue a music career. Signed to Def Jam Recordings, she debuted with the Caribbean-inspired records Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl Like Me (2006), both of which reached the top ten of the US Billboard 200.