Rihanna, 38, is a Barbadian singer, billionaire entrepreneur and mother of three. Explore her life, Fenty empire, A$AP Rocky, children, Beverly Hills shooting, and R9 update.
Robyn Rihanna Fenty is the most commercially successful female musician of the 21st century and one of the wealthiest self-made women in the world. Born on 20 February 1988 in St Michael parish, Barbados, she was discovered at 16, signed by Jay-Z’s Def Jam Recordings, and went on to sell over 250 million records worldwide — a catalogue of hits spanning “Umbrella,” “Diamonds,” “We Found Love,” and “Stay” that defined the sound of an entire pop era. She has not released a studio album since Anti in 2016, yet she has never been more prominent.
At 38, Rihanna’s story has shifted from pop star to empire. Her cosmetics line Fenty Beauty, launched in 2017 in partnership with LVMH, disrupted the global beauty industry with its 40-shade foundation range and generated over $100 million in its first month alone. Her lingerie brand Savage X Fenty, her luxury fashion label Fenty, and her philanthropy through the Clara Lionel Foundation collectively make her one of the most powerful businesswomen on earth.
Her estimated net worth stands at $1.4 billion, making her the wealthiest female musician in history. She is the mother of three children with her partner rapper A$AP Rocky — and 2026 has already brought both a terrifying incident at her Beverly Hills home and her 12th Met Gala appearance.
Quick Facts About Rihanna
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Robyn Rihanna Fenty |
| Date of Birth | 20 February 1988 |
| Age | 38 years old |
| Birthplace | St Michael parish, Barbados |
| Nationality | Barbadian |
| Profession | Singer, Songwriter, Actress, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist |
| Years Active | 2005–present |
| Partner | A$AP Rocky (together since late 2019) |
| Children | RZA Athelston Mayers (b. 2022), Riot Rose Mayers (b. 2023), Rocki Irish Mayers (b. Sep 2025) |
| Key Businesses | Fenty Beauty, Savage X Fenty, Fenty (fashion), Clara Lionel Foundation |
| Last Album | Anti (2016) |
| Estimated Net Worth | ~$1.4 billion |
| National Honour | National Hero of Barbados (2021) |
Early Life and Family
Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on 20 February 1988 in St Michael parish, Barbados. Her father, Ronald Fenty, is Barbadian and worked as a warehouse supervisor; her mother, Monica Braithwaite, is Guyanese and worked as a retired accountant. Growing up in Bridgetown, Rihanna was the eldest of three children in a household that was, by her own account, troubled.
Her father struggled with alcohol and crack cocaine addiction, and her parents’ marriage was turbulent, ending in divorce when Rihanna was 14. She has been candid about the trauma of her childhood, noting she suffered from severe headaches as a child that doctors later attributed to the psychological stress of her home environment.
As a child, Rihanna listened to Caribbean music — reggae and soca — as well as American hip-hop and R&B. She won a high-school talent competition with a rendition of a Mariah Carey song and formed a girl group with two classmates when she was around 14.
It was through this group that she caught the attention of American record producer Evan Rogers, who was vacationing in Barbados in 2003. Rogers auditioned her, was astonished, and brought her to the United States to record demos — setting in motion everything that followed.
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Education
Rihanna attended Charles F Broome Memorial Primary School and the Combermere School in Barbados. Her formal education ended effectively at 16 when she relocated to the United States to pursue her recording career after being signed by Def Jam.
She has spoken about occasionally wondering whether she should have finished school, while also noting that the unconventional education the music industry gave her — in business, in performance, in negotiation — has been its own form of extraordinary learning.
Music Career: From Barbados to Billboard Domination
Rihanna was signed to Def Jam Recordings by Jay-Z in 2005 at the age of 16. Her debut single “Pon de Replay” reached the top five in over fifteen countries and made her one of the fastest-rising new artists of that year. Her debut album Music of the Sun (2005) and follow-up A Girl Like Me (2006) established her as a rising star, but it was the release of “Umbrella” in 2007 — the lead single from her third album Good Girl Gone Bad — that made her a global phenomenon. The track spent ten weeks at number one in the UK and seven weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, winning a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
What followed was one of the most relentlessly productive runs in pop history. Between 2007 and 2016, Rihanna released seven studio albums in nine years — Good Girl Gone Bad, Rated R, Loud, Talk That Talk, Unapologetic, and Anti — each spawning multiple international hits.
“We Found Love,” “Diamonds,” “Stay,” “Work,” “FourFiveSeconds,” and dozens of other tracks accumulated billions of streams before that was even the standard metric of success. She is the best-selling digital artist of all time, with over 250 million records sold. Her 2023 Super Bowl LVII halftime performance — watched by over 118 million people and which she performed visibly pregnant — became one of the most-watched halftime shows in the event’s history and spiked streaming of her catalogue by 640%.
The Fenty Empire: From Pop Star to Billionaire Businesswoman
The pivot that changed everything came in 2017. Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty in partnership with LVMH — a 50/50 joint venture with the French luxury conglomerate — with a foundation available in 40 shades, a range specifically designed to include deep and dark skin tones that the mainstream beauty industry had consistently ignored.
The response was staggering: Fenty Beauty generated $100 million in sales in its first month, and $570 million in its first full year. Time magazine named it one of the best inventions of 2017. The “Fenty Effect” was immediate — competitors like Maybelline, CoverGirl, and Too Faced scrambled to expand their shade ranges within months of the launch.
In 2018, she launched Savage X Fenty, a lingerie brand built around body inclusivity and diverse representation that positioned itself directly against Victoria’s Secret’s narrow beauty standards. By 2021, Savage X Fenty had reached a $1 billion valuation following a $115 million funding round. Rihanna owns approximately 30% of the company and stepped down as CEO in 2023 to become Executive Chair.
In 2019, she launched Fenty — a luxury fashion house created in collaboration with LVMH, making her the first woman and first person of colour to head a house under the LVMH umbrella. While the ready-to-wear line was paused in 2021, it was relaunched by 2025 as a luxury accessories label focused on handbags, shoes, and jewellery.
In July 2022, Forbes officially named Rihanna the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world, with a net worth at that point of $1.4 billion. Her fortune has since fluctuated — Forbes’ 2025 list of America’s Richest Self-Made Women showed a decline to approximately $1 billion amid flat Fenty Beauty sales in the Chinese market and leadership changes at Savage X Fenty — but more recent assessments place her current net worth back at approximately $1.4 billion as of early 2026. The bulk of that wealth is tied to her 50% stake in Fenty Beauty and her Savage X Fenty holding.
Personal Life: A$AP Rocky and Three Children
Rihanna’s relationship history has always attracted intense public interest. Her turbulent relationship with singer Chris Brown — including the widely publicised 2009 domestic violence incident ahead of the Grammy Awards — was one of the most scrutinised celebrity stories of its era. She later dated Canadian rapper Drake and dated Saudi businessman Hassan Jameel.
Her current relationship with rapper and fashion icon A$AP Rocky (real name Rakim Mayers) began at the end of 2019, a connection she has described as one built on deep mutual knowledge and caution. “We knew what we’re capable of, and the trouble that we could bring to each other’s lives,” she told Interview magazine. “We started dating with a lot of caution.”
Their family grew quickly. The couple welcomed their first child, son RZA Athelston Mayers, in May 2022. Rihanna announced her second pregnancy by performing visibly pregnant at the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in February 2023 — one of the most dramatic pregnancy reveals in entertainment history.
Their second son, Riot Rose Mayers, was born in August 2023. Rihanna revealed her third pregnancy at the 2025 Met Gala, and their daughter, Rocki Irish Mayers — a name honouring Rocky — was born in September 2025. A source told People that Rihanna was “over the moon” to finally have a daughter after two sons.
Beverly Hills Shooting: March 2026
The most alarming event of 2026 came on 8 March, when a 35-year-old Florida woman named Ivanna Ortiz drove up to Rihanna’s Beverly Hills home and fired approximately ten shots at the property from a vehicle parked across the street. Rihanna was home with A$AP Rocky, their three children, her mother, and two employees at the time. No injuries were reported.
The suspect was arrested without incident shortly after and charged with attempted murder with bail set at $10 million. Prosecutors alleged the shooting was “wilful, deliberate, and premeditated,” though the suspect appears to have had no prior connection to Rihanna. The incident, described by a source close to Rihanna as “terrifying,” prompted the family to stay closer to home in the weeks that followed.
The Clara Lionel Four a New Album
Rihanna’s ninth studio album — referred to almost universally as “R9” — has become one of the most anticipated unreleased albums in music history. Her last release, Anti, came out in January 2016. Since then, she has given birth to three children, built a billion-dollar business empire, and performed at the Super Bowl — all without releasing new music.
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar, she revealed that she had “cracked the code” for the new album and was “feeling really good about this,” adding that the record would not adhere to any specific genre and would not be “commercial or radio digestible.” In February 2026, she shared behind-the-scenes glimpses of studio sessions on social media — enough to send the Navy (her fanbase) into genuine excitement. As of May 2026, R9 remains unannounced but appears closer than it has at any point in recent years.
Net Worth, Awards and Recognition
- Estimated net worth: $1.4 billion (as of 2026) — wealthiest female musician in history
- 9 Grammy Awards
- 13 American Music Awards
- Billboard’s Woman of the Year (multiple years)
- National Hero of Barbados (2021)
- Named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People (multiple times)
- Forbes: youngest self-made female billionaire in the world (2022)
- Fenty Beauty: Time’s Best Inventions of 2017; generated $570 million in Year 1
- Over 250 million records sold worldwide
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In Summary
Rihanna is, by almost any measure, one of the most consequential cultural figures of her generation — not just a musician but a businesswoman whose impact on the beauty industry alone has materially changed what gets made, for whom, and in how many shades. She built her fortune from first principles, by identifying gaps that no one else was willing to fill and filling them with meticulous execution and an instinct for what people actually want.
She has not released an album in a decade. It has not mattered. The Navy waits, the studio sessions suggest movement, and when R9 finally arrives — whatever genre it refuses to be — it will be the most anticipated debut of its era. At 38, mother of three, National Hero of Barbados, and billionaire in her own right, Rihanna is exactly where she has always been: ahead of everything.
People Also Ask
How many children does Rihanna have?
Rihanna has three children with her partner A$AP Rocky. Their eldest son, RZA Athelston Mayers, was born in May 2022. Their second son, Riot Rose Mayers, was born in August 2023 — a pregnancy Rihanna revealed at the Super Bowl LVII halftime show. Their daughter, Rocki Irish Mayers, was born in September 2025, a pregnancy she announced at the 2025 Met Gala. As of 2026, Rihanna has denied being pregnant with a fourth child.
What happened at Rihanna’s house in 2026?
On 8 March 2026, a 35-year-old Florida woman named Ivanna Ortiz fired approximately ten shots at Rihanna’s Beverly Hills home from a vehicle parked across the street. Rihanna was inside the residence at the time along with A$AP Rocky, their three children, her mother, and two employees. No one was injured. The suspect was arrested shortly after and charged with attempted murder; bail was set at $10 million.
Is Rihanna releasing a new album in 2026?
As of May 2026, Rihanna has not officially announced a release date for R9, her ninth studio album. However, she told Harper’s Bazaar she had “cracked the code” for the record and shared behind-the-scenes studio footage in February 2026, suggesting the album is progressing. Her last studio album, Anti, was released in January 2016. R9 is widely considered one of the most anticipated albums in music history.
What is Rihanna’s net worth in 2026?
Rihanna’s net worth is estimated at approximately $1.4 billion as of 2026, making her the wealthiest female musician in history. The majority of her wealth comes from her 50% stake in Fenty Beauty, a joint venture with LVMH that generated $570 million in its first full year, and her approximately 30% stake in Savage X Fenty, valued at around $1 billion. Forbes named her the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world in 2022.
