Inside Rihanna's Relationship With Beyonce
There are two celebrities in music that can be recognized no matter where they go in the world: Beyoncé and Rihanna. The two singers-turned-businesswomen may come from different places in the world — Beyoncé hails from Houston, Texas, while Rihanna is from Saint Michael, Barbados — but their journeys in music are not too far off.
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles began her singing career at the age of nine, according to Associated Press. She was quickly discovered through a series of girl groups (including, of course, Destiny's Child) before releasing her first studio album "Dangerously in Love" in 2003, starting her solo career off to an award-winning start.
Meanwhile, before Robyn Rihanna Fenty ruled the beauty industry with Fenty Beauty, she was a teenage singer (once upon a time) who was discovered by producer Evan Rogers and quickly greenlit by hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, as reported by Business Insider. So how are these two powerhouses connected? Let's take a look at their relationship.
Beyonce may have had a hand in Rihanna's music career
While there are many photos of Beyoncé and Rihanna together, the true nature of their relationship remains pretty mysterious. The two have never created a song together, despite rumors over the years, and they possibly never will, given Rihanna's ongoing hiatus from music. They have no business ventures together, either. And although they're connected through Bey's husband Jay-Z, there were some intense (though debunked) cheating rumors at one point. While this doesn't mean that they have any animosity toward each other, it also doesn't seem like they're besties. After all, Bey tends to feature close friends like Kelly Rowland and Serena Williams in her videos, and Rihanna hasn't made any cameos so far.
However, the "Black Is King" creator may have had a strong influence on Rih-Rih's music career at the beginning. Music producer L.A. Reid was apparently not impressed with Rihanna when he first met her, as he described in his 2017 memoir "Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next," per Vanity Fair. "At the label, we thought [singer] Teairra Mari would be the big star," Reid recalled. "We spent more time on her, did more work on her, paid more attention to her." But Reid had a change of heart when Queen Bey cosigned the singer. He wrote, "Beyoncé came up to me [and said] 'That Rihanna girl, she's a beast.'"
Of course, Beyoncé turned out to be right, and the two stars have been dominating the charts ever since.
Rihanna was inspired by Beyoncé's Super Bowl halftime performance
Rihanna revealed which Super Bowl halftime shows have inspired her on iHeart Radio's "The Process with Nate Burleson." The singer explained how she thought Prince's performance was a "rockstar show" and admitted to drawing inspiration from some of the music industry's biggest divas, including Whitney Houston, Madonna, and Beyoncé. "I watched Beyoncé's halftime performances a couple of times," she said. "She's a beast and a whole other level. Just to be inspired, really."
It seems that the "Diamonds" singer was also inspired by Queen B when it came to revealing her pregnancy. At the 2011 VMAs, Beyoncé carefully hid her pregnancy while photographs were snapped on the red carpet. After she performed "Love on Top," she unbuttoned her blazer and rubbed her stomach, revealing that she and Jay-Z were expecting their first child.
Mirroring Beyonce, RiRi hid her pregnancy from the world (and her backup dancers) by donning oversized clothes leading up to her Super Bowl halftime performance. "She came into rehearsal with big fur coats," a performer who worked with Rihanna revealed on TikTok. She added, "I was surprised, too," admitting that it wasn't until she saw the internet buzz that she realized Rihanna was pregnant.
Rihanna squashes rumors that she clashes with Beyoncé
As both Beyoncé and Rihanna are dominating players in the pop-music sphere, many have speculated about a possible feud between the two. Or, at least, a sense of competition, especially as Queen B's husband, Jay-Z, has appeared on several of Rihanna's tracks, including "Talk That Talk" and "Umbrella." Jay-Z and Rihanna also co-own the music streaming service Tidal which notoriously leaked the singer's "Anti" album.
The speculation reached an all-time high when Beyoncé's "Formation" was released as "Anti" gained popularity. But Rihanna has squashed those feud rumors. "[People] just get so excited to feast on something that's negative," she told Vogue in 2016, adding that fans like to follow a good rivalry, and that creates the rumors. "That's just not what I wake up to. Because I can only do me. And nobody else is going to be able to do that." Rihanna even encouraged Queen B to be a model for her Savage x Fenty fashion show, proving no bad blood exists between the two. "I mean, Beyoncé got body," she told E! News. "That would just trump everything for me."