20/02/2017
Today is Rihanna’s 29th birthday. To celebrate, we’ve collected 15 random facts about the pop icon.
1. Rihanna was in the army cadets when she was younger. Her drill sergeant was fellow Bajan singer Shontelle
2. L.A. Reid told JAY Z not to let Rihanna leave after her audition as he didn’t want her to go to any other record labels.
3. L.A. Reid also revealed that after her first performance under Def Jam, Beyoncé called Rihanna a “beast”.
4. Rihanna’s first Billboard Number One was SOS, which was originally written for Christina Milian.
5. Brandy Norwood was a major influence on Good Girl Gone Bad, with Rihanna saying that she listened to her album Afrodisiac “all day and all night”.
6. Despite being one of her most iconic songs, Umbrella was turned down by Britney Spears and Mary J. Blige before Rihanna got it.
7. Whilst Umbrella sat atop the charts is New Zealand, the country was battered by storms. Once it had been knocked of the top spot, the storms calmed down. A similar thing happened in the UK too.
8. Jamie Cullum released a cover version of Don’t Stop The Music in 2009. Spoiler: it’s got nothing on the Alexandra Burke version.
9. Her collaboration with Maroon 5, If I Never See Your Face Again, was initially a duet between them and Janet Jackson.
10. Despite already having a number of hits under her belt, Justin Timberlake believed it was their collaboration Rehab that made people accept Rihanna in the Music industry.
11. Although it was the second single from Loud, What’s My Name went to Number 1 in United States before Only Girl (In The World).
12. Rihanna’s former drill sergeant Shontelle wrote her hit Man Down.
13. We Found Love was initially recorded by Leona Lewis, who turned it down because she wanted Trouble to be her lead single instead. We Found Love remains the biggest hit of Rihanna’s career.
14. Oh, and We Found Love was turned down by Nicole Scherzinger
15. While we’re on the topic of Nicole, she collaborated with Rihanna on the track Winning Women.