Rihanna's Old Man Croaked It, Sad Times for the Barbadian Bombshell
Rihanna is in mourning following the demise of her father, Ronald Fenty. - Singer Rihanna grieves over the passing of her father, Ronald Fenty.
Get ready to feel a pang of sorrow, kids! It looks like Rihanna, the 37-year-old Queen of Pop, just got hit with a hefty dose of reality. There's chatter aplenty that her pops, Ronald Fenty, has kicked the bucket at the ripe age of 70. Sources close to the situation spill the beans to us heavyweights like People magazine and the Barbados-based Starcom Network. According to these insiders, Old Man Fenty took a sudden, serious turn for the worse in LA. The lowdown on his cause of death and the exact date of his demise remains under wraps for now.
As Rihanna's brothers and sisters in arms stood by his side in his final moments, it's been reported that their fearless leader, Rihanna herself, was there too, but kept out of the media's prying eyes. Rihanna's bro, Rajad Fenty, was spotted cruisin' to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on May 28, with Rihanna apparently alongside, but hidden from the flashbulbs.
Remember when Rihanna and her old man hailed from the sun-soaked heart of Bridgetown on the tropical paradise that is Barbados? Well, they raised their brood there, and young Robyn Rihanna Fenty lived large under the Barbados sun until she turned 16. Their marriage went south soon after, and they split up when she was just a teenager. Alongside Rihanna, Rajad, and Rorrey, Ronald also has three more kiddos from previous romps: Samantha, Kandy, and Jamie.
A Mixed Bag with Pops
Rihanna's bond with her father could only be described as a rollercoaster ride. The waters turned murky in 2009 after the media caught wind of a domestic disaster that went down with her then-beau, Chris Brown. Ronald, keen to spill the beans to the press, spoke his truth without Rihanna's approval, an act she'd later call "pretty weird" in a Vogue sit-down.
In 2010, Rihanna opened up to the one and only Oprah Winfrey, revealing that she and Ronald had mended some fences, albeit with a fair amount of friction still lingering. In a shocking twist of events, Rihanna sued her pops in 2019, alleging that he was capitalizing on her name for his own profit. According to her lawsuit, Ronald had founded Fenty Entertainment in 2017 and was posing as her manager to snag new clients. However, just three weeks before the trial in 2021, Rihanna dropped the lawsuit, as per the BBC.
Yet, in spite of those rocky patches, it seemed that the relationship between father and daughter had smoothed things over a smidgen recently. In February 2023, Ronald told TMZ that he was nothing but overjoyed about Rihanna's renewed pregnancy with A$AP Rocky and expressed a hankering to be part of the little one's life. Rihanna is now the proud mama of two boys, Rza and Riot, and is currently preggers with baby number three.
- Rihanna
- Los Angeles
Enrichment Data:
Rihanna's relationship with her father was complicated, with periods of estrangement due to his battles with addiction[1]. Despite the ups and downs, Rihanna still offered her support to her family[4]. In the years leading up to Ronald Fenty's death in May 2025, Rihanna grew increasingly distant, but did provide financial assistance[3]. Ultimately, the nature of their interactions during that time remains murky[2].
I'm not gonna let this be another entertainment headline about Rihanna's father; I want to remember him as more than just a celebrity's parent. Despite the complicated relationship they had, Rihanna expressed her support for him during his struggles in LA, providing financial assistance in the years leading up to his death in Los Angeles.
