Rihanna’s Father, Ronald Fenty, Has Sadly Died After a Brief Illness. He Was Only 70 Years Old
Rihanna and her father Ronald Fenty
Nationwide — Rihanna’s father, Ronald Fenty, has died at age 70 after a brief illness, his family confirmed. He passed away early Saturday in Los Angeles, where relatives gathered to remember him. Ronald Fenty’s cause of death has not been officially announced. Photos showed Rihanna’s brother visiting him at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center days before his death, as reported by Page Six. Rihanna has not made a public statement.
His death comes as the singer is expecting her third child with longtime partner A$AP Rocky. She revealed her pregnancy earlier this month at the Met Gala.
Rihanna and her father had a strained relationship over the years. Ronald struggled with addiction and separated from her mother when Rihanna was 14. In a 2011 Vogue interview, she described their bond as “really strange.” The following year, she told Oprah Winfrey that she had forgiven him, saying she had learned to separate who he was as a father from who he was as a husband.
Their relationship hit another rough patch in 2019 when Rihanna sued Ronald for allegedly using her name for business through his company, Fenty Entertainment. She dropped the case in 2021, and they reportedly reconciled again.
In 2020, when Ronald battled the pandemic, Ronald said Rihanna checked on him every day while he isolated in Barbados and she sent him a ventilator. He eventually recovered.
In later years, Ronald also spoke warmly about being a grandfather to Rihanna’s first son, RZA, born in 2022. He praised her as a loving and protective mother.