Young R&B star Rihanna might have thought her debut single "Pon de Replay" would be an unbeatable success, after it hit No.2 on the Hot 100 and was a similar success internationally. In 2007 she blew that out of the water with "Umbrella", the biggest-selling song of 2007 worldwide.

Rihanna Fenty got a lucky break when she was introduced to producer Evan Rogers, who was on holiday on her home island of Barbados at the time. He helped her record material which was sent to various recording companies, among them Jay-Z at Def Jam Records, who quickly signed her up.

Her debut album Music of the Sun was released in 2005, and the catchy bass-beat single “Pon de Replay” became the soundtrack to thousands of pimped-up cars across the US and the UK. In spite of its ultimate platinum-status, the reception from the critics was a little more muted and, indeed, subsequent single releases fared less well.

The second album A Girl Like Me was released in 2006, and the first single, “SOS”, became her first Hot 100 chart-topper.

Her third album Good Girl Gone Bad was released in 2007 amidst personal revelations about her family: part of an attempt to dispel her own good girl image. On this album she collaborated with Justin Timberlake (on “Rehab”) and Ne-Yo (on “Hate That I Love You”). The first single “Umbrella” was the biggest single of the year, topping the Hot 100 for nearly two months and getting stuck at the top of the UK charts for ten weeks. Unusually for such a big-seller, it was also widely praised by usually snobby music critics.

A fourth album is expected in 2009.