Is there a person alive who doesn’t love Rihanna? Sure her middle-of-the-road-hogging pop isn’t to everyone’s tastes but the woman herself inspires sympathy and admiration on a grand scale. This is due in no small part to the way she bounced back from the horrific attack she suffered at the hands of then boyfriend Chris Brown in 2009, but there’s much more to it than that.
In recent years she’s raunched up her image to an eye-popping degree with scorching videos such as S&M but she’s balanced this with a sense of humour and down-to-earthiness that can’t be faked – case in point was her recent appearance on a hotel balcony in Rio dressed only in her jim jams sans makeup and photo-ready hair, blowing kisses to her fans. Can you imagine Katy Perry or Kylie Minogue doing that?
At only 23, the statuesque Barbadian has sold more than 20 million albums and 60 million singles worldwide, and there’s nothing to suggest she isn’t going to continue steamrolling ahead. Her latest single, We Found Love, a collaboration with Calvin “I got all the girls” Harris has just been released and is steadily making its ascent to the top of the UK charts as I write this.
As the first single from RiRi’s upcoming, as-yet untitled album (due out on November 21) the dancefloor-storming tune has already lit up the blogosphere with celebrity-watcher Perez Hilton gushing: “This Rihanna reign just won’t let up!!! Slaying.” We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
Oct 5-13 | Doors 6.30pm | £40-£55
The O2, Peninsular Sq, SE10 0DX
theo2.co.uk
Tube: North Greenwich
