Claim: A viral post about Rihanna on TikTok claims the musician has officially decided to end her music career.
Verdict: False. There is no official announcement from Rihanna about ending her music career. On the contrary, she has revealed in recent interviews that she never stopped recording music and hopes to release an album soon.
Full Text
A TikTok account holder, Shanae Copper Robinson, made a post about Rihanna on her page on Dec 15, 2023, with the caption,
“Farewell to RiRi’s legendary. Rihanna’s musical departure. The official end of her singing career. A major career decision.” This has sparked many diverse views from netizens.
Since its publication, the post has been liked 50.1k times and shared 1,012 times.
TikTok users have been divided about the post, with some believing the claim and others doubting it as recently as February 2024.
Verification
Messages sent to Rihanna by DUBAWA to authenticate the claim have yet to be responded to. However, past responses to the matter indicate that Rihanna is not giving up music. In October 2022, Rihanna released a new song titled “Lift Me Up,” the soundtrack for Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” which was a tribute to the late Chadwick Bossman, earning her the First Golden Globe nomination and Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song.
In her interview with British Vogue Magazine on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, it was stated that although it had been seven years since she released her last album, “Anti,” she actually never took a break from creating new songs as the magazine reported, “Rihanna never stopped recording.”
According to the piece, the past seven years “are littered with songs she’s fallen in and out of love with. She says that listening back to an unreleased song and it’s almost like trying to dress like you used to dress. It’s like, ‘Ew, no. I would never wear those again.’ Your taste changes, your vibe changes.”
When asked if fans can expect a new album in 2023, she responded, “I want it to be this year… Like honestly, it’d be ridiculous if it’s not this year. But I just want to have fun. I just want to make music and make videos.”
In Feb. 2023, she performed at the annual championship game of the National Football League called (Super Bowl Halftime Show).
On Feb 29, 2024, Rihanna flew to New Delhi along with many other notable personalities for the wedding of Billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s son, Anant, where she performed at their pre-wedding bash.
Additionally, no official post has been made on the musician’s social media to support the claim.
Conclusion
Recent interviews with Rihanna indicate that the musician has not stopped working on music and intends to release an album.
This report was produced under the DUBAWA Non-urban Journalists Mentorship project aimed at promoting a culture of truth and verification in non-urban newsrooms in Ghana with support from the US Embassy in Ghana.
