Rihanna has shared a photo with her three children, showing them where she grew up. The 38-year-old – born Robyn Rihanna Fenty – was raised in Saint Michael, Barbados, in a three-bedroom bungalow in the suburb of Westbury. The street she grew up on was later renamed Rihanna Drive in her honour.
Visit to Rihanna Drive
The singer has now shared a series of photos visiting her childhood home with her three children – sons RZA, four, Riot, three, and Rocki Irish, one – who she has with partner A$AP Rocky. One of the photos showed Rihanna standing with her children in front of a fence that had been erected in front of her childhood home, with a plaque on the driveway showing her name and a sun.
She captioned the post: "One minute I feel like that kid from Westbury…the next minute I’m bringing my own kids back to ‘Rihanna Drive’. Trippy how life works! And the Glory STILL and WILL ALWAYS belong to the Almighty Creator!!!"
Street renamed in 2017
Once called Westbury New Road, the street was renamed Rihanna Drive in 2017 in a ceremony she attended. The official Barbados Tourism website reads: "This is the place where an icon was born; a backstreet located on the outskirts of Bridgetown. It’s tucked away from the bustling traffic of the Mighty Gryner Highway and an earshot from the shoreline. Today, this street is known as a cultural landmark but before it was once just Westbury Road and the home of The Right Excellent Robyn Rihanna Fenty," referencing the singer being declared a National Hero of Barbados during their 2021 Independence Day ceremony.
Family background
Rihanna’s parents Ronald Fenty and Monica Braithwaite also had sons Rorrey and Rajad. The couple separated when Rihanna was young before officially divorcing in 2002 when she was 14. She told Entertainment Weekly in 2007 of her childhood: "It’s not great memories. But it helped to build me and make me stronger."
Rihanna has previously spoken about her father’s struggle with addiction and in 2009 described her parents’ marriage as "abusive". In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2012, she went on to speak about efforts to "repair" her relationship with her father after feeling "anger" towards him for her childhood experiences. She said: "He taught me everything, and as awful as he was to my mom, at times, it didn’t compare to how great he was as a father. And I had to come to terms with that, and I was able to close that gap with him." Fenty died aged 70 last year.
