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On Tuesday, November 30, Rihanna was named Barbados' 'national hero' after the island nation negated its allegiances to Queen Elizabeth II. The government became a republic after officially rejecting Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state.
Barbados cut its colonial ties after almost 400 years of colonial rule, and the nation also elected its first president. The event, which took place in Rihanna's hometown of Bridgetown, was also attended by Prince Charles. He stood when Queen Elizabeth II's royal standard flag was lowered, and the new Barbados declared.
Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that singer Rihanna would be recognized as a 'national hero' of the country. As per Reuters, she told the 33-year-old popstar,
"May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honour to your nation by your works, by your actions."
What is known about Rihanna's citizenship status in the USA?
Rihanna was born in Saint Michael, Barbados, on February 20, 1988. However, she reportedly grew up in Bridgetown, Barbados, from where she first sent her demos to American music producer, Evan Rogers. She was asked to come to the USA by Rogers and later released two studio albums, Music of the Sun (2005) and A Girl Like Me (2006), after signing with Def Jam in 2005.
However, after being a permanent resident of the USA for around 16 years, Rihanna has never claimed her naturalized citizenship. Rihanna is still a citizen of only Barbados, even though she has residences in the USA and owned an estate in the UK until 2020.
Although Rihanna is not a US citizen, this did not stop her from being vocal about her political stances. The Diamonds singer has publicly spoken about her views regarding gun control after several mass shootings took place. She has also encouraged her millions of social media followers to vote on election day.
Rihanna opened up to PEOPLE in 2019 and expressed her opinion on the gun violence that plagues the country. She said,
"People are being murdered by war weapons that they legally purchase. This is just not normal. That should never, ever be normal."
In November 2018, Rihanna took to Instagram to advocate the importance of voting in the election. However, a commenter on the post enquired about her citizenship status in the USA, to which she replied:
"Nah I'm an immigrant tryna get yo country together. Did u vote?"
While there are likely several reasons for RiRi not to claim her US citizenship, some people have claimed that she is doing so to avoid taxes. Under the FATCA and the rules' certain clauses, Rihanna would not have to pay severe taxes to the IRS compared to a US citizen.
