{"id":142436,"date":"2021-11-30T08:27:40","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T12:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=142436"},"modified":"2021-11-30T08:27:40","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T12:27:40","slug":"rihanna-made-national-hero-as-barbados-becomes-republic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/rihanna-made-national-hero-as-barbados-becomes-republic\/","title":{"rendered":"Rihanna made national hero as Barbados becomes republic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As Barbados became the world\u2019s newest republic, its prime minister\u2019s first act was to officially declare the island\u2019s most famous citizen,\u00a0Rihanna, a national hero.<\/p>

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Barbados had already conferred the title of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary on the billionaire multiple Grammy-winning singer and businesswoman in 2018 and tasked her with encouraging education and tourism.<\/p>\n

The \u201cUmbrella\u201d songstress commanded \u201cthe imagination of the world through the pursuit of excellence with her creativity, her discipline, and above all else, her extraordinary commitment to the land of her birth,\u201d Prime Minister Mia Mottley told the assembled dignitaries at the \u201cPride of Nationhood\u201d celebrations on Tuesday.<\/p>

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\u201cOn behalf of a grateful nation, but an even prouder people, we therefore present to you the designee for national hero of Barbados, Ambassador\u00a0Robyn Rihanna Fenty,\u201d Mottley said, inviting the singer up to stand alongside her.<\/p>

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\u201cMay you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honor to your nation by your words, by your actions, and to do credit, wherever you shall go,\u201d she said, with a nod to the singer\u2019s hit \u201cDiamonds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mottley paid tribute to the humble origins of\u00a0Rihanna, who was born in Saint Michael and raised in the capital Bridgetown.<\/p>

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Rihanna, 33, grew up in a troubled home in Barbados and was propelled to fame after American producer Evan Rogers recognized her talents.<\/p>\n

The star parlayed her musical success into a make-up and fashion empire, with earnings that now dwarf those of other megastars such as Madonna and Beyonce.<\/p>

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Forbes in August estimated she was worth $1.7 billion, around $1.4 billion of which comes from the value of her cosmetics company Fenty Beauty, a partnership with French fashion giant LVMH.<\/p>

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Mottley said the government chose to honor\u00a0Rihanna\u00a0as the first national hero designated by the new republic as a \u201csignal to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rihanna\u00a0joins a select group of 10 other Barbadians including Garfield Sobers, regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and the only other living national hero.<\/p>\n

Sobers was also at the ceremony and hugged\u00a0Rihanna.<\/p>\n

The title would be conferred on her Wednesday morning, the prime minister said.<\/p>\n

Rihanna\u00a0was among many nominations for national hero submitted by the people of Barbados and Mottley said others would be named by National Heroes Day next year.<\/p>\n

The independence ceremony was closed to the general public amid a pandemic curfew, which was relaxed to allow Barbadians to enjoy festivities including fireworks displays.<\/p>\n

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As Barbados became the world\u2019s newest republic, its prime minister\u2019s first act was to officially declare the island\u2019s most famous citizen,\u00a0Rihanna, a national hero. Barbados had already conferred the title of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary on the billionaire multiple Grammy-winning singer and businesswoman in 2018 and tasked her with encouraging education and tourism. The \u201cUmbrella\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":142437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nRihanna made national hero as Barbados becomes republic - Antigua News Room<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/rihanna-made-national-hero-as-barbados-becomes-republic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rihanna made national hero as Barbados becomes republic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As Barbados became the world\u2019s newest republic, its prime minister\u2019s first act was to officially declare the island\u2019s most famous citizen,\u00a0Rihanna, a national hero. 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