Rihanna (20 page)

I
f you had told RiRi at the start of 2011 that she would have performed ‘S & M’ with Britney she wouldn’t have believed it. Back then she knew that she wanted to do an ‘S & M Remix’, but she wasn’t sure who she wanted to do it with and so she asked her fans on Twitter.

She had already dreamed about asking Britney Spears, and so when she received a lot of the votes for the ‘Femme Fatale’ singer, she knew it was the right way to go. She then had to find a way of approaching Britney…

On 10 April 2011, RiRi’s Twitter followers were the first to know that Britney Spears would be collaborating with Rihanna on the ‘S & M Remix’. RiRi tweeted: ‘I got a #SEXY collabo comin your way supa dupa soon!!!! OH YEAH!!! By popular demand….’

‘It’s BRITNEY BITCH!!!!’

‘@britneyspears one of the biggest worldwide popstars! U gangsta #EPIC’

‘MAJAH Rihmix to S&M MAJAH!!!! #S&Mrihmix #itsBRITNEYbitch’

Britney tweeted back:

@rihanna You’re such a tease! I like it, like it…. – Britney

@rihanna You think they’re ready Ri Ri?… – Britney

As soon as the news broke that Britney was to feature on the ‘S & M Remix’, everyone wanted to know how Rihanna managed to persuade her to do it. When RiRi was doing a radio interview with DJ Lil Cee on 92.3 NOW FM, he asked her the question and she replied: ‘I always wanted to work with her – I just thought it would be so unexpected for two artists in the same genre like that to collaborate – and Britney, she’s never been featured on any one else’s record ever, so when she heard that we were interested in doing a remix and we wanted her to do it, she was really enthusiastic about it. She loved the idea and she went right into the studio.’

The whole process, from inviting Britney to do it, to recording the track and for it to come out, took less than a week.

Two days after the remix of ‘S & M’ was released, it topped the US iTunes chart. Rihanna was really happy, as she tweeted her followers: ‘#1 on ITUNES!!! WOW, u lil rascals! WE love u.’

‘I wanna BIG UP all the #MAJAH Rihanna+Britney fans for coming together and supporting #S&MRihmix in such an EPIC way! Thank u’

She had also just become the second female artist to have a fan page on Facebook, with 30 million likes. Overall, her page was the seventh most popular:

1. Texas Hold’em Poker fan page
   
2. Facebook fan page
   
3. Eminem
   
4. Lady Gaga
   
5. Michael Jackson
   
6. YouTube
   
7. Rihanna
   

The ‘S & M Remix’ became Rihanna’s tenth No. 1, and Steve Bartels, president and COO of the Island Def Jam Music Group, released the following statement in response: ‘Rihanna’s tenth #1 single is a monumental accomplishment and a testament to her incredible artistry.

‘This was a truly collaborative and creative effort, spearheaded by Rihanna’s tireless work and aided in no small part by the incredible Britney Spears and her team. I am extremely proud of Rihanna, her ongoing dominance on the charts, and the entire IDJ team who worked so diligently to bring this one home.’

RiRi also broke a chart record when ‘S & M Remix’ went to No. 1, because she was the youngest artist to ever have ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 charts. Previously, the record was held by Mariah Carey (who had been 25 years, eight months and one week old when she celebrated her tenth No. 1 in December 1995) – Rihanna was only
23 years, two months and one week old. She also broke the record for the quickest time between a solo artist’s first and tenth No. 1 single as it only took her four years, 11 months and two weeks. The previous record holder was also Mariah Carey.

This was all achieved without a music video to accompany the track, something that is quite unheard of. Fans of both RiRi and Britney wanted a video to be made, and for a while it looked as if there was going to be one, but this proved to be just a rumour.

Ryan Seacrest set the record straight on his radio show, telling listeners: ‘We decided to investigate it – I can tell you the rumours are 100 per cent false. If you want them to change their minds, tweet Rihanna and tweet Britney – don’t tell them I told you to do it!’

I
n April 2011, Rihanna moved into her first proper home, after purchasing a modernist mansion in Los Angeles. It has 12 bedrooms, and so she always has room for her family and friends to stay over when they visit her; it was also extremely expensive.

She revealed to
Vogue
: ‘I looked steady for two years, and it is way above the price I was looking for, but I loved it.’

RiRi enjoyed being able to decorate it in just the way she liked, and added: ‘It is all white – there is a gun chandelier in the middle of the living room. In one room, I have this huge black-and-white painting of Bob Marley, and the wallpaper is green, yellow and red, the African flag colours.’

She won’t be living there on her own, though. RiRi now has her own baby: her toy poodle Oliver, who lives with the
singer and her best friend Melissa Forde. In the last place they shared, Rihanna received so much fan mail that she had to give it a whole room in her house! The former theatre room became her fan-mail room, and she filled it with letters, drawings and gifts that fans have sent her over the years. She receives loads of stuff every day from all around the world. It’s a good job she has so many bedrooms, because she might need two or three to store her fan mail; she keeps getting more and more each day.

Quite a few of RiRi’s friends are older than her, but it’s no surprise really; she behaves much older than she is. She explained to
W Magazine
: ‘I’ve been paying my own bills since I was 17, living in a foreign country, and I’ve always been a little older than my real age. People always said that to me, and I always felt that in my head.’

The ‘Loud Tour’ is set to become Rihanna’s biggest-ever tour, as she is doing 88 dates from 4 June to 22 December 2011. Originally, it was going to be smaller than the ‘Last Girl on Earth Tour’ (which had 73 dates), but so many fans wanted to go that Rihanna added more dates. She didn’t want people to miss out, and sold more than 300,000 tickets in the UK alone. RiRi also broke the record for the O2 Arena, as no other solo artist has ever performed 10 shows there: normally, they just perform one or two.

She said in a statement: ‘We’re creating an incredible ride with this tour. I’m excited to get out on the road and share my new music from this album. We are going to have an amazing time and I know my fans are ready to get LOUD!’

As well as performing lots of tracks from her
Loud
album,
Rihanna also made sure ‘Disturbia’ and ‘Umbrella’ were part of her set list, as she loves performing them and fans love them, too – they are big fan favourites.

RiRi wanted her concert to be the best her fans had ever seen, and so as soon as the tour was announced in December 2010, she started working with her creative team on the new set and costume designs. She also wanted the best supporting act, and was thrilled when J. Cole signed up to come on tour with her. Cee Lo Green, singer of the Gnarls Barkley smash hit ‘Crazy’, originally signed on for some dates, but unfortunately had to pull out because of a scheduling conflict.

Back in February 2011, RiRi told
Extra
: ‘I’m really excited about [the “Loud Tour”]. We’re just starting to put it together and it’s going to be even bigger than my last tour, which I didn’t think [was possible]. The “Loud Tour” is going to be special.’

In another interview with Ryan Seacrest, she said: ‘We’re going to start the first week in June in the United States. It’s the
Loud
era, so I’m very excited! It’s going to be new colours, new stage and a new show…’

She added in a later interview with Ryan: ‘We’ve just designed the stage and we have a section that we are building where the fans can actually be in the show and in the stage, and be closer than they’ve ever been. It’s real VIP!’

When some websites started to spread the rumour that some of RiRi’s tour dates might have to be cancelled because of poor ticket sales, she was understandably upset. There was no truth in the stories, as all of Rihanna’s tour
dates were proving popular and looked like they would be sell-outs.

On most nights of the tour, the set list ran as follows:

1. Video Introduction
   
2. ‘Only Girl (In the World)’
   
3. ‘Disturbia’
   
4. ‘Shut Up and Drive’
   
5. ‘Man Down’
   
6. ‘Darling Nikki’
   
7. ‘S&M’
   
8. ‘Let Me’
   
9. ‘Skin’
   
10. ‘Raining Men’
    
11. ‘Hard’
    
12. ‘Breakin’ Dishes’
    
13. ‘The Glamorous Life’
    
14. ‘Medley: ‘Run This Town’ / ‘Live Your Life’
    
15. ‘Untitled IV’ (Video Interlude)
    
16. ‘Unfaithful’
    
17. ‘Hate That I Love You’
    
18. ‘California King Bed’
    
19. ‘Untitled V’ (Video Interlude)
    
20. ‘What’s My Name?’
    
21. ‘Rude Boy’
    
22. ‘Cheers (Drink to That)’
    
23. ‘Don’t Stop the Music’
    
24. ‘Take a Bow’
    
25. Encore
    
26. ‘Untitled VI’ (Video Interlude)
    
27. ‘Love the Way You Lie (Part II)’
    
28. ‘Umbrella’
    

Both critics and fans agree that RiRi’s ‘Loud’ Tour is her best tour to date. Amanda Ash from the
Vancouver Sun
wrote in her review: ‘Rihanna knows how to throw a party – a sexy, steamy, tight and bright bash where yesterday’s troubles are crushed beneath mile-high stilettos and drowned by intoxicating club beats.’

Rihanna has achieved so much already but she wants to try some more things in the next few years. In the next 10 years she would like to have her own make-up and clothing lines. She is so passionate about fashion that having the opportunity to design clothes for other women would be a dream come true for her.

RiRi would also like to win more Grammys and other awards for her music, and release more hit singles. What matters to her the most, though is keeping her fans happy because they make everything she does worthwhile.

She is so thankful to everyone who has helped her get where she is today, and looks forward to what the future holds…