Rihanna makes history again despite not releasing an album in 10 years

Rihanna has made history as the first woman to exceed 200 million RIAA singles certifications. Remarkably, she has achieved this milestone despite not having released an album in a decade.

The 38-year-old “Diamond” singer has achieved third place on the all-time list, with her total certifications reaching 200.5 million units.

Leading the ranks is Drake, with 277.5 million, followed by Morgan Wallen, who has earned 215 million certifications.

Rihanna’s most recent album, ANTI, came out in 2016. Since then, her musical output has included “Lift Me Up,” recorded for the 2022 movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and “Friends of Mine,” which was featured in 2025’s Smurfs.

For years, Rihanna has been discussing the creation of her next studio album. In 2025, she shared with Harper’s Bazaar that she felt “really good about” the progress of the album.

She said, “There’s no genre now. That’s why I waited. Every time, I was just like, ‘No, it’s not me. It’s not right. It’s not matching my growth. It’s not matching my evolution. I can’t do this. I can’t stand by this. I can’t perform this for a year on tour.'”

Rihanna continued, “After a while, I looked at it, and I was like, this much time away from music needs to count for the next thing everyone hears. It has to count. It has to matter. I have to show them the worth in the wait. I cannot put up anything mediocre.”

The artist, a mother of three, also hinted that the new music would defy expectations, stating it wouldn’t be “commercial or radio digestible.”

Despite her music career, Rihanna is also thriving as an entrepreneur.

In 2025, she became the first Black woman to found two billion-dollar companies. Both of her brands, Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty, surpassed a $1 billion valuation, according to Parade.

Rihanna’s two businesses collectively achieved a valuation surpassing $3 billion, a significant milestone in her career as an entrepreneur.

Fenty Beauty, launched in 2017, quickly garnered praise from both consumers and the cosmetics industry, notably for its expansive foundation line designed to accommodate a diverse spectrum of skin tones.

The rapid sell-out of the deeper foundation shades at Sephora prompted competitors, including Make Up For Ever and L’Oréal, to launch campaigns focused on women of color.

Fenty Beauty recently launched its products in Guyana, expanding the globally renowned cosmetics brand’s reach into the Caribbean. The highly anticipated launch was facilitated by Glamour Beauty, Guyana’s leading retail chain, which was founded by Varsha Sharma.