Rihanna named world’s richest female musician

Pop star Rihanna is the richest female musician in the world, according to Forbes.

The 31-year-old has amassed a fortune of about $600 million (€533 million), largely through her music and makeup business, the magazine said.

Her Fenty Beauty line launched in 2017 and reportedly made $100 million in its first 40 days.

And Forbes said Rihanna's wealth puts her ahead of other music industry giants such as Madonna, worth an estimated $570 million, Celine Dion (€450 million) and Beyoncé (€400million).

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As well as her career in music and cosmetics, Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, is also behind the Savage X Fenty lingerie line. She is also set to become the first woman to create a fashion label at French luxury goods company LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton.

In an interview with The New York Times last month, Rihanna said money was not her main motivation.

She said: “Money is happening along the way, but I’m working out of what I love to do, what I’m passionate about.

“Work will change when my life changes in the future but an amount of money is not going to stop that.”

Earlier this week Forbes named rapper Jay-Z as the first hip-hop star to become a billionaire, crediting his wealth to his music career and varied business interests in fashion, alcohol and the ride hailing app Uber.

Rihanna was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Bridgetown, Barbados in 1988 and moved to the US in 2005 to pursue a career in music.

She signed with Jay-Z’s Def Jam Recordings after the rapper had been impressed with her song Pon de Replay, which became the lead track from her debut album, Music Of The Sun.

The single reached number two in the UK charts, while the album sold more than two million copies around the world.

Rihanna followed it up with 2006’s A Girl Like Me, which spawned the successful singles SOS, Unfaithful and Break It Off.

Her status as a pop superstar was cemented a year later with the release of her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad.

A global hit, it reached number one in the UK album charts thanks to the singles Don’t Stop the Music, Shut Up And Drive, and Umbrella.

The latter was jokingly blamed for 2007’s exceptionally rainy summer.

A performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards was cancelled amid rumours her boyfriend, the R&B singer Chris Brown, had assaulted her.

A now-infamous picture was leaked to the US showbiz website TMZ, showing Rihanna with a visibly bruised and swollen face.

Brown was later sentenced to five years probation. The pair briefly got back together, with Rihanna confirming they were seeing each other in January 2013.

She is now in a relationship with Saudi businessman Hassan Jameel. Rihanna’s first album after the Brown controversy, Rated R, marked a musical departure for the singer, moving away from her pop-heavy previous efforts.

It contained the singles Rude Boy and Te Amo. Rihanna has since released four studio albums, most recently 2016’s Anti, but has branched out beyond music.

Rihanna is also an actress and appeared in 2018 heist film Ocean's 8, as part of a female-led ensemble cast including Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett and Anne Hathaway. – PA