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Rihanna was born in 1988 in Barbados to a Barbadian father and Guyanese mother. During her childhood, Rihanna did not go unnoticed. She was beautiful and had musical talent. At the age of 15 she met the American producer Evan Rogers. She recorded her first demo with him. She then decided to leave the Caribbean and moved to the United States. The demo made its way around many record companies, and her music attracted the attention of rapper Jay-Z who took Rihanna under his wing. Jay-Z was President of Def-Jam Records and signed Rihanna with this record label.

Rihanna made a break through in 2005 with the album Music of the Sun. The album was very successful and sold millions of copies. The single Pon De Replay was a smashing hit in clubs and on the radio. The young artist’s career had been propelled to new heights, and she was on her way to becoming an international superstar. This same year, Rihanna went on tour and opened up for Gwen Stefani.

In 2006, Rihanna released her second album, A Girl Like Me. Once more, the album surpassed all expectations and the single SOS was in the top 5 in 7 countries. The track Unfaithful was number one on Canadian radio stations. The same year, Rihanna won the award for Best R&B Artist at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

Rihanna released her third album in 2007 entitled Good Girl Gone Bad. This album had phenomenal success. It had the collaboration of Timbaland, Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake. In March 2007, the immensely popular single Umbrella was released. This song which features Jay-Z was number one in ten countries. The songs Shut Up and Drive were also very big hits. In 2007, Umbrella won the award for Monster Single of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards.

In September 2007, Rihanna started an international tour to promote her album Good Girl Gone Bad.  Rumours ran rampant at that time that Rihanna had hooked up with actor Josh Hartnett.  Her personal life did not overshadow her career.  Not long after, the Barbados beauty received three Grammy nominations with Jay-Z in the categories Single and Song of the Year, as well as Best Duo for a Hip Hop Song for her smash hit Umbrella.

At the end of January 2008, the singer participated in Kanye West’s Glow in the Dark tour, along with the band N.E.R.D.  The following month the 19-year-old artist became the face for the Got Milk ad campaign.  Rihanna then delivered a sensational performance at the Grammy Award ceremony. 

In March, Rihanna and her foundation Believe, partnered with Def Jam to do a short concert series (Girls Night Out) for children in need.