Rihanna's father, Ronald Fenty, dead at 70

News.com.au

01-06-2025

Rihanna's father, Ronald Fenty, has reportedly died. He was 70.
The patriarch passed away early Saturday morning in Los Angeles, according to Starcom Network News, a radio station based in the pop superstar's native country of Barbados.
An official cause of death was not immediately known. However, the outlet reported Fenty died following a 'brief illness.'
Sources told the radio station that family members have gathered in California to commemorate his life.
Photos obtained by Page Six show Rihanna's brother Rajad Fenty arriving at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to visit Ronald on Wednesday.
Rihanna was believed to be in the car as well, but she is not visible in the photos.
The superstar's rep did not immediately respond to Page Six's request for comment. The Diamonds singer has also not yet publicly commented on her father's passing.
The sad news comes as Rihanna is expecting her third child with longtime boyfriend, A$AP Rocky.
She announced her pregnancy this month by debuting her growing baby bump at this year's Met Gala.
Rihanna, who was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, and her dad had a troubled relationship over the years.
The patriarch has reportedly struggled with alcohol and drug abuse, causing conflict between the two. Ronald also divorced Rihanna's mother, Monica Braithwaite, when the Umbrella singer was 14.
Rihanna reportedly addressed their estrangement in a 2011 interview with Vogue, calling their relationship 'really strange.'
'That's the only word I can think of to describe it because you grow up with your father … you are a part of him for goodness sakes!' she told the magazine.
'And then he does something so bizarre that I can't begin to wrap my mind around it,' the Work singer reportedly added at the time.
'You hear the horror stories about people going behind people's backs and doing strange things, but you always think, 'Not my family. My father would never do that to me.''
However, in 2012, Rihanna announced that she and her father had 'repaired' their relationship, telling Oprah Winfrey in an interview that she learned to separate who he was as a father and as a husband.
'He taught me everything, and as awful as he was to my mum, at times, it didn't compare to how great he was as a father,' the Love on the Brain singer said in the sit-down, according to People.
'And I had to come to terms with that, and I was able to close that gap with him.'
However, it appeared the father-daughter duo were back on bad terms by 2019.
Rihanna sued her dad at the time for allegedly using her name for financial gain through his talent development company, Fenty Entertainment, which he claimed was affiliated with the singer.
Rihanna filed to dismiss the lawsuit three weeks before the case went to trial in 2021, per the BBC. After settling the issue, Ronald alleged that the pair had reconciled once again.
He previously gushed to Page Six over his role as a grandpa to Rihanna's son RZA, whom she welcomed in May 2022 with Rocky, 36.
Ronald said Rihanna had brought the baby back to her home island of Barbados twice and shared of his daughter's first foray into motherhood, 'She's loving it. She's a very over-protective mother.'