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Music icon and entrepreneur Rihanna is mourning flowing the death of her father Ronald Fenty.
Ronald passed on at a medical facility in Los Angeles on Saturday morning at the age of 70.
The cause of death was not immediately revealed with reports indicating that the he passed on after a short illness.
News of his death reverberated across the globe with Starcom Network News, a radio station located in the pop superstar’s native country of Barbados confirming the same.
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Fenty spent part of his final days at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where Rihanna’s brother Rajad Fenty was photographed visiting on Wednesday, May 28.
It is believed that the popstar was in the company of her brother at the time of the visit to the medical facility in what would end up being her father’s final days. Fenty's family was with him around the time of his death.
Fenty’s family & divorce
Fenty was married to the popstar's mother, Monica Braithwaite and lived in Bridgetown, Barbados where they raised their family.
Rihanna who is married to A$AP Rocky and is expecting her third child was born in 1988 before the couple parted ways when the popstar was still a minor.
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Fenty and Braithwaite divorced in 2002 when Rihanna was 14 years old, marking the end of their marriage.
Apart from Rihanna and Rajad, Fenty and Braithwaite were also parents to Rorrey, with the patriarch having three other children (Samantha, Kandy and Jamie) from previous relationships.
Rihanna revisits childhood experience & parent's marriage
The popstar left Barbados at the age of 16 and went on to conquer the world of entertainment and business, becoming a global entertainment icon and a successful entrepreneur behind the Fenty brand of beauty products and lingerie.
Rihanna mentioned in a past interview that her parents’ marriage was characterized by violence and physical abuse which may have played a part in their eventual divorce.
In 2009, Rihanna revisited her childhood growing up in Fenty’s home revealing that the marriage was "abusive" and alleged that there were multiple incidents of domestic violence.
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"He taught me everything, and as awful as he was to my mom, at times, it didn’t compare to how great he was as a father. I had to come to terms with that, and I was able to close that gap with him.” Rihanna told Oprah Winfrey in 2012, giving a glimpse into her parents’ relationship.
Despite his challenges and shortcomings, Fenty was a remarkable father who embraced forgiveness, reconciling with his daughter and strived to mend their broken relationship after years of being apart.
He was there through some of the most defining moments as Rihanna built her Fenty brand and grew her profile as a global icon.