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Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados.

Her mother is Monica Braithwaite, a retired Afro-Guyanese accountant, and her father is Ronald Fenty, a warehouse supervisor of Barbadian and Irish descent.

Rihanna has two brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty, and two half-sisters and a half-brother from her father's side, each born by different mothers from his previous relationships.

Growing up in a three-bedroom bungalow in Bridgetown and selling clothes with her father on a street stall, Rihanna's childhood was deeply affected by her father's addiction to crack cocaine, alcohol, and marijuana, and her parents ' turbulent marriage ended when she was 14.

Rihanna grew up listening to reggae music and began singing at around the age of seven.

She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School and then the Combermere High School, where she formed a musical trio with two of her classmates.

Rihanna was an army cadet in a sub-military programme ; the singer-songwriter Shontelle was her drill sergeant.

Although she initially wanted to graduate from high school, she chose to pursue a musical career instead.