Are Rihanna and Taylor Swift Friends? The Singers Have 1 Odd Similarity
Artist Taylor Swift has plenty of friends in the industry. But one famous fellow singer she hasn’t had much of a relationship with is Rihanna. Over the years, reports of contention between the two have surfaced, but there doesn’t appear to be any “Bad Blood.” Here are some of their favorable interactions and one little thing they have in common.
Taylor Swift and Rihanna broke out around the same time
Rihanna dropped her debut studio album with Def Jam in 2005. Her lead single, “Pon de Replay,” became a summer hit, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The artist followed this with her second album, A Girl Like Me, which featured the hit song “SOS.” Her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, earned her her first Grammy Award in 2008.
On the same note, Swift released her self-titled debut in 2006. With her lead single, “Tim McGraw,” she got the attention of country radio and even earned her a Grammy nomination. But it was her second album, 2008’s Fearless, that solidified Swift as a country-pop sensation, becoming her first of many to top the Billboard 200.
They’ve interacted over the years
As two popular artists, Rihanna and Swift have undoubtedly attended many of the same events over the years. In fact, it was Swift who read Rihanna’s name on stage at the Grammys in 2008, where Swift herself was nominated for Best New Artist. A few months later, both were on MTV’s Total Request Live (TRL) the same day.
The Grammys are, of course, a popular destination for awarded artists. Both attended the ceremony again in 2010 and were seated near one another. They were also both at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. However, this is where Rihanna reportedly said of Swift’s dancing, “she ain’t cute” (according to Hollywood Backstage).
Rihanna called Swift ‘a role model’
There’s always a tendency to read into celebrity gossip. But there’s no real evidence to suggest that Rihanna and Swift are in any kind of feud. However, this became the narrative in 2015 after Rihanna told NME she didn’t want to join Swift’s “girl squad,” saying, “I don’t think our brands are the same…In my mind she’s a role model, I’m completely not.”
Despite the tabloid stories, Swift didn’t misinterpret Rihanna’s message. The next year, Swift was in attendance at then-boyfriend Calvin Harris’ Coachella performance when Rihanna dropped in to perform “This Is What You Came For.” The two singers shared an embrace. Months later, Swift would take credit for co-writing the hit song.
They have the same lucky number
While some may have thought Swift and Rihanna would fall out when the former and Harris had words over the song credit, that doesn’t appear to be the case. After all, Swift was the recipient of one Fenty x Puma shirt that has meaning to both of them.
The shirt, which Swift is wearing in her documentary Miss Americana, had the “13” stitched into it. The number is a favorite of both singers. Swift loves it so much that not only is it in her Twitter handle, but she works it into many of her musical Easter eggs for her fans. She’s even written it on her hand for performances in the past (above).
