Growing up in Barbados, the 15-year-old Rihanna formed a girl group with two
friends and happened to be seen by American producer Evan Rogers, who was
holidaying in Barbados at the time. At 16 she moved to Connecticut to live with
Rogers and his wife to develop her music. She recorded a demo that included her
debut hit Pon de Replay and attracted the interest of Jay-Z, who signed her to
the Def Jam label. Pon de Replay subsequently became a smash hit and Rihanna
quickly became an international superstar and sex symbol with a string of
further hits, notably Umbrella, the 2007 smas...