She has attained fourteen Billboard Hot 100 number ones thus far and is the second Barbadian artist to win a Grammy Award. She is also a cultural ambassador for Barbados. In 2021 Rihanna was named a "National Hero" in her home country, earning her the title "The Right Excellent."
Rihanna was born in Saint Michael, Barbados to Ronald Fenty, a warehouse supervisor, and Monica Fenty, an accountant. Her mother, a native of Guyana, is Afro-Guyanese and her father is Bajan and Irish. She is the oldest of three siblings; two younger brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty. She began singing at around the age of seven. Her childhood was deeply affected by her father's addiction to crack cocaine and parent's rocky marriage, which ended when she was fourteen years old. Rihanna attended Charles F. Broome Memorial School, a primary school in Barbados, and then the Combermere School, where she formed a musical trio with two of her classmates at the age of fifteen. In 2004 she won the Miss Combermere Beauty Pageant. She was an army cadet in a sub-military programme that trained with the military of Barbados and Shontelle was her drill sergeant.
At the age of 15, she formed a girl group with two of her classmates. In 2003, friends introduced Rihanna and her two bandmates to record producer Evan Rogers, who was vacationing in Barbados with his wife. The group auditioned for Rogers, who said that "the minute Rihanna walked into the room, it was like the other two girls didn't exist." While auditioning for Rogers, Rihanna sang Destiny's Child's cover of "Emotion". Over the next year, Rihanna and her mom shuttled back and forth to Rogers home in Stamford, Connecticut. Then, shortly after turning 16, she relocated in the United States and moved in with Rogers and his wife. Carl Sturken helped Rihanna record a four-song demo, which included the ballad "The Last Time," a cover of Whitney Houston’s hit "For the Love of You" and what would become her first hit, "Pon de Replay" to send to various recording companies. It took a year to record the demos, because she was going to school and would only record during summer and Christmas school breaks. Rihanna's demo made its way to Def Jam, which invited her to audition for the label's then-president, Jay-Z, who quickly signed her.
Rihanna broke into the recording industry in 2005 with the release of her debut album Music of the Sun, which features the number 2 hit single "Pon de Replay". Less than a year later, Rihanna released album artist=Rihanna]A Girl Like Me and earned her first number-one single, "SOS, which sampled the popular 80s track "Tainted Love". "Unfaithful" was also released and was fairly successful.
Rihanna released her third album Good Girl Gone Bad in June 2007. Prior to the release of the album, she spent the week of the Grammys writing songs for the album with Ne-Yo. She adopted a more sexual image while recording the album, eventually dying her hair black and cutting it short. Rihanna worked with Timbaland and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, as well as previous musical collaborators such as Stargate, Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers to re-imagine her album compositions with uptempo dance tracks. Rihanna commented, "I want to keep people dancing but still be soulful at the same time. You feel different every album, and [at] this stage I feel like I want to do a lot of uptempo [songs]."
The album topped the charts in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Russia and Ireland, and peaked at number two in the United States and Australia. Unlike previous work, the album featured a more dance-pop sound instead of the dancehall, reggae and ballad styles. The album received positive reviews by critics, becoming her most critically acclaimed album at that time compared to her previous efforts.
It yielded eight hit singles - "Umbrella" "Shut Up and Drive", "Don't Stop The Music" "Hate That I Love You" "Rehab" "Disturbia" "Take A Bow" "If I Never See Your Face Again" - all singles reaching the top twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 — including the worldwide number-one hit "Umbrella," featuring Jay-Z.
In addition to reaching number one in various countries, "Umbrella" was the number one single in the United Kingdom for ten consecutive weeks, making it the longest-running number-one single since Wet Wet Wet's single "Love Is All Around" spent fifteen weeks at the top in 1994. The song is listed number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007 published by Rolling Stone magazine. In 2008, "Umbrella" earned Rihanna and Jay-Z a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It managed to stay at number one in the United Kingdom for 10 weeks, the longest time spent by a female and in the 21st century, on this chart.
"Umbrella" has also been recognised in various forms of accolades by the music press. The song is listed number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007, published by the music magazine Rolling Stone. Time magazine also listed the song number three on their Top 10 Songs of 2007. The song is listed number one on Entertainment Weekly magazine's list of the 10 Best Singles of 2007, while topping the magazine's poll for the best single of 2007. Blender magazine awarded the song Song of the Year in their Readers' Poll 2007. The music press has considered "Umbrella" as 2007's Song of the Summer, while The New York Times writer Kelefa Sanneh regarded it as "arguably 2007's signature slow jam".
In August 2009, Rihanna collaborated with Jay-Z and Kanye West on "Run This Town." The song peaked at number two on Billboard Hot 100 and also reached the top ten in five other countries. She appeared on the cover of Vogue Italia for the September 2009 Issue. The shoot was influenced by Rihanna's hair, which she had cut for the shoot into a mohawk-like style. The style of the shoot was Extreme Couture and very dark, and in one shot she appeared semi-nude. Rihanna performed "Run This Town" along with Jay-Z and West for the "Answer the Call" concert at Madison Square Garden in September 2009, making it her first musical performance since the altercation with Brown. The trio also performed "Run This Town," on the premiere of The Jay Leno Show on September 14, 2009.
In November of 2009, Rated R was released in the wake of a physical altercation with romantic interest Chris Brown, who pled guilty to felony assault. The album's lead single, "Russian Roulette" -- written with Ne-Yo - was one of the year's most controversial singles. The album also includes collaborations with Tricky, The-Dream, Stargate, and SRP.
One year later, Rihanna released her fifth studio album called Loud. It's lead single, "Only Girl (In the World)", reached number one in more than ten countries. The song also won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording.
Talk That Talk was released one year after Loud. With the song "We Found Love", Rihanna became the fastest solo artist in the chart's history to achieve twenty Hot 100 top-ten singles, breaking the previous record set by Madonna. The song later became her eleventh number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. "You Da One" became the second single from the album but was not as successful as "We Found Love". The third single from the album, "Talk That Talk" featuring Jay-Z, was announced on Rihanna's Twitter. The fourth single, "Where Have You Been", peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100.
On February 20, 2012, Rihanna and Chris Brown released 2 remixes, one featuring the "Talk That Talk" album track "Birthday Cake" and the other featuring Chris Brown's "Turn Up The Music"
In April 2012, the singer appeared in the movie "Battleship", which is based on the game of the same name.
Rihanna's seventh album Unapologetic was released on November 19, 2012; it was preceded by the lead single Diamonds, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 becoming Rihanna's twelfth number one single on the chart and tying her with Madonna and The Supremes for the fourth-most number ones in the chart's history.
On January 28, 2016, Rihanna released her eighth studio album ANTI exclusively through streaming service Tidal. The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming Rihanna's second number one and eighth top ten album on the chart. The album was supported by the release of four singles including the lead single "Work" featuring Drake, which topped the Billboard Hot 100. Further platinum singles "Needed Me" and "Love on the Brain" both peaked inside the top ten of the Hot 100. In 2016, Rihanna was featured on several singles. The first collaboration was Calvin Harris' "This Is What You Came For," which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two in the United Kingdom. Rihanna was also featured on Drake's "Too Good" from his album Views and Mike Will Made It's single, "Nothing Is Promised". On June 27, 2016, Rihanna released "Sledgehammer", the lead single from the Star Trek Beyond soundtrack. On August 28, Rihanna was honored with the MTV Video Vanguard Award at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Rihanna was elected artist of the decade of 2010 by Pitchfork, Insider, Lofficiel among other major music magazines.
In October 2022, Rihanna released "Lift Me Up" from the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, marking her first solo single since 2016's "Love On The Brain". It reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 in the UK. The song was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award, making it Rihanna's first nomination in both awards. On February 12, 2023, she performed at the Apple Music Super Bowl Halftime Show, marking her first performance since the 2018 Grammy Awards. Her Halftime show became the second most watched Halftime show of all time with 118.7 million viewers, just after Lady Gaga’s (117.5 million), but behind Katy Perry’s (121 million).
If I Never See Your Face Again
Rihanna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You say I'm not your type, but I can make you sway
It makes you burn to learn, you're not the only one
I'd let you be if you put down your blazing gun
Now you've gone somewhere else, far away
I don't know if I will find you (find you, find you)
But you feel my breath, on your neck
'Cause you keep me coming back for more
And I feel a little better than I did before
And if I never see your face again, I don't mind
'Cause we gone much further than I thought we'd get tonight
Sometimes you move so well
It's hard not to give in
I'm lost, I can't tell
Where you end and I begin
It makes you burn to learn
I'm with another man
I wonder if he's half
The lover that I am
Now you've gone somewhere else, far away
I don't know if I will find you (find you, find you)
But you feel my breath, On your neck
Can't believe I'm right behind you (right behind you)
'Cause you keep me coming back for more
And I feel a little better than I did before
And if I never see your face again, I don't mind
'Cause we gone much further than I thought we'd get tonight
Baby, baby, please believe me
Find it in your heart to reach me
Promise not to leave me behind
(Promise not to leave me behind)
Take me down, but take it easy
Make me think but don't deceive me
Torture me by taking your time
(Talk to me, talk to me)
'Cause you keep me coming back for more
And I feel a little better than I did before
And if I never see your face again, I don't mind
'Cause we gone much further than I thought we'd get tonight
'Cause you keep me coming back for more
And I feel a little better than I did before
And if I never see your face again, I don't mind
'Cause we gone much further than I thought we'd get tonight
The lyrics of Rihanna's 'If I Never See Your Face Again' describe a relationship between two individuals who have different opinions and preferences but are drawn to each other despite this. The first verse indicates that the relationship may have ended as the summer has faded, and the singer has let go of the other person. The second line suggests that the other person may have said that the singer was not their type but that the singer could make them sway despite this. The lyrics suggest that the other person may be surprised to learn that the singer is not the only one drawn to them and that they would let the other person be if they put down their blazing gun. This line could be interpreted to refer to the other person's emotional defenses, which they need to let down to connect fully with the singer.
In the second verse, the singer indicates that the other person has gone somewhere far away and may not be found again. However, she feels the other person's breath on her neck, and she follows them. The chorus indicates that the singer cannot help but keep coming back for more of the other person, and it makes her feel better than before, even if she never sees their face again. She acknowledges that they have gone further than she thought they would in one night.
The bridge suggests that the other person is resisting the singer's advances, and the singer asks the other person to believe in her and not leave her behind. She tempts them to take her down but to take it easy and not deceive her. The singer seems to be willing to be patient and endure pain and suffering, as long as the other person takes their time and talks to her instead of deceiving her. The final chorus repeats the earlier ones, indicating that the relationship has progressed, although there is some tension and resistance present.
Line by Line Meaning
Now as the summer fades, I let you slip away
As the summer season ends, I slowly let you go out of my life
You say I'm not your type, but I can make you sway
Although you think I’m not your ideal type, I can make you change your mind
It makes you burn to learn, you're not the only one
It hurts you to know that you’re not the only person I’m interested in
I'd let you be if you put down your blazing gun
I would back off if you stop being so defensive and protective towards me
Now you've gone somewhere else, far away
You have moved to another place, far from me
I don't know if I will find you (find you, find you)
I am uncertain if I will be able to locate you
But you feel my breath, on your neck
You sense my presence behind you
Can't believe I'm right behind you (right behind you)
I cannot believe I am so close to you, without you even noticing
'Cause you keep me coming back for more
I am drawn to you and can't help but come back for more
And I feel a little better than I did before
Being around you makes me feel a bit happier and more content
Sometimes you move so well
At times you dance so flawlessly
It's hard not to give in
It's difficult to resist the temptation to join you
I'm lost, I can't tell
I am confused and unsure
Where you end and I begin
Where you and I differentiate
I wonder if he's half
I ponder if he's even half
The lover that I am
The passionate and loving person that I am
Baby, baby, please believe me
My dear, please trust me
Find it in your heart to reach me
Discover within yourself the ability to communicate with me
Promise not to leave me behind
Vow to never abandon me
Take me down, but take it easy
Take me on a journey, but do it gently
Make me think but don't deceive me
Challenge my mind, but do not manipulate me
Torture me by taking your time (Talk to me, talk to me)
Make me yearn for your affection by taking things slow and communicate with me
'Cause we gone much further than I thought we'd get tonight
We have progressed much further tonight than I had anticipated
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: James B. Valentine, Adam Noah Levine
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Hi3n0
Now as the summer fades
I let you slip away
You say I'm not your type
But I can make you sway
It makes you burn to learn
You're not the only one
I'd let you be if you
Put down your blazing gun
Now you've gone somewhere else far away
I don't know if I will find you (find you, find you)
But you feel my breath on your neck
Can't believe I'm right behind you (right behind you)
'Cause you keep me coming back for more
And I feel a little better than I did before
If I never see your face again, I don't mind
'Cause we got much further than I thought we'd get tonight
Sometimes you move so well
It's hard not to give in
I'm lost, I can't tell where you end and I begin
It makes you burn to learn
I'm with another man
I wonder if he's half the lover that I am
Now you've gone...somewhere else...far away
I don't know if I will find you (find you, find you)
But you feel my breath on your neck
Can't believe I'm right behind you (right behind you)
'Cause you keep me coming back for more
And I feel a little better than I did before
If I never see your face again, I don't mind
'Cause we got much further than I thought we'd get tonight
Baby, baby
Please believe me
Find it in your heart to reach me
Promise not to leave me behind
(Promise not to leave me behind)
Take me down, but take it easy
Make me think but don't deceive me
Torture me by taking your time
(Torture me, torture me)
'Cause you keep me coming back for more
And I feel a little better than I did before
If I never see your face again, I don't mind
'Cause we got much further than I thought we'd get tonight
(Torture me, torture me)
Keep me coming back for more (Coming)
And I feel a little better (Back for more) than I did before
If I never see your face again, I don't mind
'Cause we got much further than I thought we'd get tonight
@ladylay6232
YouTube : let suggest this after 10 years
Me: I'm here for it
@lucasxathy9848
Same
@creativelife9871
mira ysfi Right! 😂
@sevimesma
Same over here
@va.g.6363
Same
@nayadabdallah9917
Same ! Never new they did a song together
@carltapnio4810
Rihanna does have great chemistry with everyone.
@tinkerturd23
That pisces adaptable energy!
@LaynaCastro
She is the most lovely person on earth
@marialulamy2057
🙌🏼😉