Rihanna was born in Saint Michael, Barbados in 1988, and has been a musical talent since she was a small child. In 2003, when only 15 years of age, she received her first big break when a friend introduced her to Evan Rogers, a prodigious music producer who happened to be on holiday in Barbados at the time.

To promote her first album, Rihanna toured as the support act for American pop singer Gwen Stefani, which is when Rihanna tickets suddenly became a strong commodity. Many Stefani fans were wowed by the young singer, and a strong army of fans began to grow.

Barbados was discovered by Portuguese explorer Pedro Campos in 1536, when he named the island Os Barbados (“The Bearded Ones”) which was subsequently shortened to Barbados. The Island is located just off the coast of South America, with Venezuela the nearest major neighbour. The island of Barbados is situated in a group of islands which include the tourist havens of Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago. Barbados itself is part of the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 430 square kilometres (23 kilometres wide and 34 kilometres long at the widest points). It offers a relatively flat landscape, which rises slightly in the centre of the island – offering beautiful views of the beaches.

While the island has a tropical climate, which is very attractive to the tourist industry, there is a rainy season from June to October, although thankfully the country is situated just outside of the infamous hurricane belt. Barbados itself has one of the highest literacy rates in the developing world, not to mention one of the highest standards of living. The make-up and culture of the island is heavily influenced by the British who have had a presence there for some time – indeed it has become a holiday paradise for many well known British entrepreneurs.