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INTRODUCTION
In 2003,Rihanna formed a musical trio with two of her classmates. They happened to catch a producer Evan Rogers while he was on vacation. Evan said that Rihanna caught his eye right off the bat. Evan invited her to live with him and his wife in Stamford Connecticut. -
GROWTH
She released her debut album Music of the Sun in August 2005. It charted at number 10 and its lead single “Ron De Replay” became a hit, but the subsequent singles failed to preform. She immediately went back to the studio to start work on her second album A Girl Like me, which would go on to peak at number 5, spawn three top 10 singles and turn her into a dance pop superstar -
MATURITY
In 2006,while working on her third album,she started to play with her image as an edgy sex symbol,cropping her hair into her now signature pixie cut and moving away from her reggae/dancehall-influenced sound to pop. The aptly titled Good Girl Gone Bad debuted at number two and became her best-selling album to date thanks in part to the wild success of its lead single “Umbrella.”
She earned six Grammy nominations at the 2008 awards show taking home her first honor for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration -
DECLINE
2009 got off to a very rocky start. She had to suddenly cancel her scheduled performance at the Grammys on February 8 when she and her longtime boyfriend, Chris Brown, had an argument the night that turned violent. Chris allegedly punched, slapped, choked and threatened to kill Rihanna after a spat stemming from a text message from a former flame escalated. Police photos of a bruised and bloodied Rihanna leaked to the press only causing further outrage. -
DECISION POINT
back in full force later in the year when she performed her Grammy-winning collaboration with Jay-Z and Kanye West “Run This Town” in September. She stepped back into the spotlight just in time to release her fourth album, Rated R, two months later. The first three singles all became top 10 hits.
