It’s been a tumultuous year for Rihanna. After the whole Chris Brown episode, she could’ve been forgiven for just shutting it down and chilling out in Barbados for the rest of ‘09. Instead she went into action, recording a dense new album (Rated R), making brilliant videos, and popping up everywhere fashionable and making it more fashionable. Let’s revisit some of our favorite Rihanna moments of the year. (Besides her topless GQ cover.)
+ She got by with a little help from her friends. Rihanna got back in the mix flanked by two of her closer industry supporters, Jay-Z and Kanye West. Her inimitable, ghostly wail punctuated Hova’s Blueprint 3 anthem, “Run This Town.”
+ She made us laugh. What? Yeah, Rihanna, not really known for bringing the LOLs, did just that when, during her musical guest appearance on Saturday Night Live she co-starred in the digital short, “Shy Ronnie,” with Andy Samberg, playfully lampooning her own songs in the process.
+ She made two incredible videos (“Russian Roulette” and “Hard“) that showed us she wasn’t just developing as a recording artist, but as a music video artist as well.
+ She re-established (and actually wildly improved) herself as a live performer, bringing the atmospheric sounds of Rated R to the state. Check out this footage from her November live stop in London (with bonus Jay-Z duet included).
+ She made the Polar Bear look WORK. Seriously, who can pull this off and not look ridiculous other than Queen Ri?
We leave you with three sick Rihanna videos from ‘09: “Run This Town,” “Russian Roulette” and “Hard.”
Tags: 2009, 5, moments, rihannaest, top
