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Rihanna in Numbers
While Rihanna’s success in numbers is impressive, one cannot forget her...
Keith Nurse & Alicia Nicholls Rihanna’s journey from ordinary Barbadian school-girl to one of the most recognized faces on the planet has been truly impressive. In this article we attempt to chronicle her success in numbers. Rihanna is the most successful Barbadian performing artiste to date. Second only to Bob Marley, Rihanna is the top selling Caribbean recording artiste of all time. As of October 1, 2010, Rihanna has sold more than 25 million albums and 45 million singles worldwide. Her musical resumé includes ?ve studio albums: Music of the Sun (2005), A Girl Like Me (2006), Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), Rated R (2009) and Loud (2010). Her latest album, Loud, sold 206,018 units in the ?rst week alone, topping Rated R, which had topped 181,000 in its ?rst week. Rihanna has not only achieved twenty-one entries on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 chart to date, but with seven number-ones to her name, she has recently made history by becoming the artiste with the most number-ones in the entire eighteen year history of that chart, beating out the likes of Beyoncé, Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga. Her discography also includes ?ve studio albums, one video album, three compilation albums, thirty-four singles and twenty-?ve music videos. Rihanna has made television appearances on numerous highly-rated shows which include the likes of Good Morning America, the X Factor and Jimmy Kimmel Live. She has also been featured on the cover of over thirty top lifestyle, fashion and music magazines across the world, most notably Billboard (US Edition) in October 2010 and Vogue (Italy Edition) in September 2009. Rihanna has performed at music awards all over the world, copping a total of 94 awards and receiving 185 nominations to date. Her most recent performances and awards were at the Grammy Awards and the BRIT Awards where she received her fourth Grammy (Best Dance Recording with her song Only Girl (In the World)) and her ?rst BRIT Award (Best International Female Artist). Rihanna’s success is not limited to music. This is exempli?ed by the release of a self-titled book in 2010, a cameo appearance in the movie Bring It On: All or Nothing and a role in the movie Battleship which will be released in 2012. In 2011 Rihanna launched her ?rst fragrance Reb’l Fleur and announced in late 2010 that she would soon launch her own entertainment company, Rihanna Entertainment. Rihanna’s appeal has landed her lucrative endorsement deals with a slew of internationally renowned brands, including Secret Body Spray (2005), Nike, JC Penny and Clinique (2006), Cover Girl (2007), Totes (2007) and Gucci (2008). In 2010 she appeared in a television ad for Optus in Australia. Rihanna’s star power has also not gone unnoticed in her home country of Barbados. In 2007 she signed on to do a marketing campaign with the Barbados Tourism Authority. A segment of this campaign was a television commercial based on a sample from the music video of her r Y??YKZ[??\?Y] ???8?'Y?]\??[?? ] [?H ?[?8?'K?[???\??\? ?X??\???Z[??H ?\?[ ??XYH[???\?H?[ \?[[X?\??Y???\??Y???H H??\??Y[???\??Y??[? ? ??[H?Z[??x?&\? ?X??\??[??[X?\??\?[\ ?\??]?K?H?[??????]\??\?] H ???[? ?
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