Pop star Rihanna sufferes heartbreak as her dad Ronald Fenty died aged 70 following a brief illness as the family gather in Los Angeles to pay their respects
Pop star Rihanna dad Ronald Fenty has died aged 70. The father of the global icon died early this morning in Los Angeles following a brief illness, according to reports.
Family members have reportedly gathered in California to pay their respects and honor Ronald’s memory. The heartbreaking news comes as Rihanna is currently expecting her third child with partner A$AP Rocky.
Ronald’s official cause of death has yet to be made public, as his death was announced by Starcom Network News, a prominent radio station based in Rihanna’s homeland of Barbados.
Photos have shown Rihanna’s brother, Rajad Fenty, arriving at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center earlier this week in an emotional moment for the family.
Ronald had divorced wife Monica Braithwaite, the chart-topping singer’s mum, amid a struggle with drink and drug issues when Rihanna was just a teenager.
He was even the subject of a lawsuit delivered by his daughter who accused him of misusing her name to benefit his own entertainment company – she later dropped it in 2021.
Speaking after the birth of Rihanna’s first child, Ronald spoke fondly of being a granddad, admitting: “She’s loving it. She’s a very overprotective mother.”
“Everybody says [the baby] looks like me,” he told Page Six at the time. “But you know, babies change, faces change. He [resembles] a lot of Rihanna and Rocky together.”
He had previously noted ‘not knowing’ if Rihanna and A$AP, birth name Rakim Mayers, would ever tie the knot, saying: “I don’t know about marriage, I really don’t know.”
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