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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Sean Morrison

Rihanna named world's richest female musician ahead of industry giants Beyonce and Madonna

Rihanna is the richest female musician in the world, business magazine Forbes has announced.

The pop star has amassed a fortune of about $600 million (£472 million), largely through her music and makeup business, the magazine said.

Her Fenty Beauty line launched in 2017 and reportedly made $100 million (about £78 million) in its first 40 days.

And Forbes said Rihanna's wealth puts her ahead of other music industry giants such as Madonna, worth an estimated £448 million, Celine Dion (£350 million) and Beyonce (£314 million).

The pop star is wealthier than other industry giants including Beyonce and Madonna (Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)

As well as her career in music and cosmetics, Barbados-born Rihanna, whose full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty, is also behind the Savage X Fenty lingerie line.

She is also set to become the first woman to create a fashion label at French luxury goods company LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton.

In an interview with The New York Times last month, Rihanna said money was not her main motivation. She said: "Money is happening along the way, but I'm working out of what I love to do, what I'm passionate about.

"Work will change when my life changes in the future but an amount of money is not going to stop that."

After moving to the US in 2005, Rihanna released her debut album, Music Of The Sun, before following it up with A Girl Like Me and Good Girl Gone Bad.

She has since sold more than 250 million records and has twice been named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Rihanna was cast in 2018 heist movie Ocean's 8.

Earlier this week Forbes named rapper Jay-Z as the first hip-hop star to become a billionaire, crediting his wealth to his music career and varied business interests in fashion, alcohol and the ride hailing app Uber.

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