Her father was abusive. He was addicted to crack and alcohol, which often left the family broke. He would beat her and her mother.
She was afflicted by excruciating headaches. They were so bad that she underwent CT scans, because the doctors thought it was a brain tumor. But it was just the intense stress of living at home.
Born and raised in Barbados, Rihanna grew up listening to reggae. She turned to singing as an escape from her troubles home. She sang so much that her neighbours called her "Robyn Red Breast", because her first name is Robyn.
Her parents divorced when she was 14 and her health dramatically improved.
With her mom working full time she took over as her younger brother caretaker.
She was bullied at school for her tomboy look and got into fights when the bullies made fun of her.
She was tough and trained in the army cadets.
On a dare from friends, she entered a beauty pageant where she sang a Mariah Carey song and won.
At 15, she auditioned for as american music producer. He knew he had found someone big, so within months she moved to the US and lived with him and his wife. They spent the next two years working on demos and sending them out to record labels.
A copy of her demo landed on the desk of Jay-Z. After audition he immediately signed her.
She was 16 years old and her first album sold more than 2 million copies worldwide.
Rihanna has won 9 grammys.
She has had 14 number one singles in the US. The third most in billboard history.
She created the believe foundation to help terminally ill children.