Rihanna was honored as part of the celebrations marking Barbados’ transition to a republic, with president-elect Sandra Mason set to take over as the country’s leader after the country announced last year that it would end its monarchy ties.
On November 30, Rihanna attended the declaration of the republic and Mason’s inauguration ceremony in her hometown of Bridgetown. Prime Minister Mia Mottley bestowed the honor of National Hero of Barbados on the singer and entrepreneur – real name Robyn Rihanna Fenty – as part of the ceremony.
“May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honour to your nation by your words, by your actions, and by giving credit wherever you shall do it,” Prime Minister Mottley said as he presented Rihanna with the honorific The Right Excellent.
Rihanna was born in Barbados in 1988 and nurtured in Bridgetown until she was discovered as a teenager by American record producer Evan Rogers and moved to the United States to pursue her career.
In 2008, the artist was appointed as a cultural ambassador for Barbados. Rihanna was named Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for her native nation a decade later, in 2018, a job that includes promoting education, tourism, and investment.
When the Barbados government announced plans to “completely leave” their “colonial past behind” by becoming a republic in 2021, supporters joked that Rihanna should take over as Queen Elizabeth II’s successor.
Rihanna previously stated that when her long-awaited ninth album, the follow-up to 2016’s ‘Anti,’ is finally released, listeners can expect a different sound from the singer.
“Just keep in mind that you’re not going to expect what you’re going to hear. “What you think you know about Rihanna isn’t going to be what you hear,” she told the Associated Press while promoting her new Savage X Fenty concert.
“I’m experimenting a lot, and music is like fashion in that you should be able to play it,” she says.
I believe that I should be allowed to wear anything I want and that I should be able to listen to whatever I want. So, I’m having a good time, and it’ll be different,” she explained.
