Rihanna (book)

File:Rihanna in Last Girl on Earth Tour 16-04-3.jpg.]]

In November 2009, Rihanna released her fourth studio album Rated R through Def Jam Recordings,{{cite web|url=https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rated-r/id340340001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128052538/http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rated-r/id340340001|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 28, 2009|title=Rated R — Rihanna|publisher=iTunes Store. Apple.|access-date=February 14, 2014|date=November 23, 2009}} to critical and commercial success.{{cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/rated-r/rihanna|title=Rated R Reviews|publisher=Metacritic. CBS Interactive.|access-date=March 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621033811/http://www.metacritic.com/music/rated-r/rihanna|archive-date=June 21, 2013|url-status=live}}{{cite press release|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/weekly-us-music-releases-rihannas-loud-springsteens-promise-and-kid-rock-2134790.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005065224/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/weekly-us-music-releases-rihannas-loud-springsteens-promise-and-kid-rock-2134790.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 5, 2013|title=Weekly US music releases: Rihanna's 'Loud,' Springsteen's 'Promise,' and Kid Rock – Music, Arts & Entertainment|publisher=Relaxnews|date=November 15, 2009|access-date=November 2, 2011}} Following was a year-long world tour, titled Last Girl on Earth.{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208080812/http://rihannanow.com/live|url=http://rihannanow.com/live|access-date=February 14, 2014|archive-date=February 8, 2011|publisher=Rihannanow.com (official website)|title=Live — Rihanna}} In January 2010, details about a Rihanna photo book were revealed, including its initial title—Rihanna: The Last Girl On Earth—and a tentative date, on June 29 of that year.{{cite web|title=New Details Surface on Rihanna's Upcoming Photo Book with Simon Henwood|url=http://www.muumuse.com/2010/01/new-details-surface-on-rihannas-upcoming-photo-book-with-simon-henwood.html/|publisher=MuuMuse|access-date=February 14, 2014|date=January 2010|author=Stern, Bradley}}

During an interview with website MuuMuse, the book's photographer and British artist Simon Henwood, who also served as the creative director during the promotional campaign for Rated R, spoke on the concept and purpose of the publication. He revealed that the book was created in order to show the events of that promotional era, and while he did not envision the project as a "diary", he described it as a "picture book of everything that happens when you're building [something] like this, so things people had not seen of her." Having spent a long period of time with Rihanna on diverse locations, such as "fashion shows, on set, hotel rooms" amongst others, Henwood told MuuMuse that it depicted the "journey from the initial design of the logo and concept of the album to the singer embarking on the Last Girl on Earth Tour.{{cite web|title=Rated R and Beyond: Interview with Creative Director Simon Henwood|url=http://www.muumuse.com/2010/10/rated-r-and-beyond-interview-with-creative-director-simon-henwood.html/|publisher=MuuMuse|access-date=February 14, 2014|date=October 2010|author=Stern, Bradley}}

As a result, Rihanna includes photos of the singer taken during the Paris Fashion Week; during the Rated R photoshoot done by Ellen von Unwerth in Berlin; candid pictures and pictures of her American Music Awards live performance. The last photos of the publication were taken by Henwood during the European leg of the Last Girl on Earth Tour in April 2010.{{cite web|title=Preview Rihanna's Photography Book|url=http://www.rap-up.com/2010/10/06/preview-rihannas-photography-book/|access-date=February 15, 2014|work=Rap-Up|publisher=Rap-Up, LLC.|archive-date=January 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104215633/http://www.rap-up.com/2010/10/06/preview-rihannas-photography-book/|url-status=dead}} Aside from the pictures, the book also includes a preface written by French designer Alexandre Vauthier, in which he praises the singer and describes their encounter.{{cite web|publisher=E!|access-date=February 15, 2014|date=October 15, 2010|url=http://uk.eonline.com/news/205888/inside-rihanna-s-big-beautiful-world|author=Malkin, Marc|title=Inside Rihanna's Big Beautiful World}}

The date was then rescheduled from June 2010 to September of that year. Rihanna said to MTV:

I think it was really special to have behind-the-scenes photos, you know, pictures that the fans haven't seen before, all together of a very specific moment of my life, an album of my life. They just get to see all the things that they hadn't seen that were going on behind the scenes; really cool stuff, not typical. They're really fun photos. And even for me, when I look at them, they say so much. Photos really tell a thousand words.{{cite web|publisher=MTV. Viacom Media Networks.|access-date=February 15, 2014|date=October 27, 2010|title=Rihanna Says Photos In Her New Book 'Say So Much'|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1650981/rihanna-photos-her-new-book-so-much.jhtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110210014142/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1650981/rihanna-photos-her-new-book-so-much.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 10, 2011|author=Thomas, Rebecca}}

A 144-page book, Rihanna was released on October 15, 2010 in the United States under Rizzoli Publications, on hardcover format, including a CD with a song from Rated R;{{cite book|title=Rihanna — Hardcover|date=October 15, 2010|isbn=978-0847835119|last1=Henwood|first1=Simon}} four days later, the paperback format was issued in the United States,{{cite book|url=https://www.amazon.com/Rihanna-Simon-Henwood/dp/B005DIAA4K/|title=Rihanna|access-date=February 14, 2014|date=October 19, 2010|publisher=Rizzoli }} Germany, and France. Both editions were released in the United Kingdom on October 20, 2010, under the original title Rihanna: The Last Girl on Earth.{{cite book|title=Rihanna: The Last Girl on Earth|date=October 20, 2010|id={{ASIN|0847835111|country=uk}}}} Four days later, the paperback format was issued in the United States. On October 26, 2010, a deluxe edition of the photo-book was released, including the hardcover edition "encased in a Swarovski crystal monogrammed clamshell" alongside a print with an image from "Rude Boy"'s music video shoot, signed by Rihanna.{{cite book|title=Rihanna Deluxe: Deluxe Edition|date=October 26, 2010|isbn=978-0847836321|last1=Henwood|first1=Simon}} Imported versions of the book were sold in Portugal starting February 2012.

Rihanna appeared at the Fifth Avenue store of Barnes & Noble, in which she signed copies of the photo-book, dressed in a "floral-print" dress.{{cite web|title=Rihanna's Big Apple Book Signing|url=http://www.rap-up.com/2010/10/27/rihannas-big-apple-book-signing|work=Rap-Up|publisher=Rap-Up, LLC.|access-date=February 15, 2014|date=October 27, 2010}} Editors who commented on the book were positive about it. At E!, Marc Malkin praised Henwood's professional photography, which he deemed "absolutely gorgeous". At Rap-Up, editors favored Rihanna's looks, writing that in the pictures, she was "at the height of her beauty and ferocity". Rebecca Thomas of MTV had a similar opinion, stating: "The 22-year-old stunner [Rihanna] shines in front of the camera and perhaps never more so than in the images that capture [her]".

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{{Rihanna}}

Category:2010 non-fiction books

Category:Biographies about musicians

Category:Coffee table books

Category:Rihanna