- I'm Rihanna and I'm from Barbados.
- [Narrator] Recognize this girl?
Of course you do, it's Rihanna.
- Picture a young teenaged girl from an island
moving to a foreign country doing this all by myself.
- [Narrator] We've kind of known each other for a long time.
Let's look back on MTV's relationship with Bad Gal Riri.
- Today we're gonna be speaking with Rihanna.
There's no top for me, yes!
- [Narrator] Rihanna has had her eyes on the top
since she came in the game in 2005
and we've been with her from the jump.
One of the first times we ever interviewed her
was on the streets of New York City.
Here she is laying out the blueprint for her pop domination.
- I could tell you that I will work my best
to be the most successful artist that I can be.
Remembered as Rihanna, remembered as being
the artist from the Caribbean who came here
and made it internationally, just remember this, me.
- [Narrator] Can you imagine if we just
casually interviewed Rihanna on the street today?
That (beep) would be wild.
Another one of our favorite early memories with Rihanna,
is when we invited her on a little show called Punk'd,
hosted by everyone's favorite trucker hat
wearing prankster, Ashton Kutcher.
Well, we didn't invite her, here's the set-up.
The accomplice mistakenly gives these
street performers $100 and Rihanna
swaps it out for a five dollar bill.
Things get heated and the cops show up.
- Okay, I would not ever steal from kids, just know that.
With $300 are you going to stop this?
- Yeah.
- [Man] Girl!
- [Ashton] I'm sorry.
- I hate, oh my God, I'm Rihanna and I just got Punk'd.
- [Narrator] What were you doing in the summer of 2007?
I know I was bopping to Rihanna's Umbrella,
the undisputed song of that summer
and the single that catapulted Rihanna into worldwide fame.
We were actually with her when she shot the video.
Her mentor Jay-Z had this powerful
prediction about her career.
- I think she'll be here for a minute.
(laughs)
- [Narrator] Throughout her career,
Riri has pulled up to TRL a total of nine times.
She even hosted the show for an entire week in 2007.
The same year her album Good Girl Gone Bad was released.
- Hi everyone, I'm your guest VJ Rihanna
here in the TRL audience surrounded by my fans.
- [Narrator] Rihanna is no stranger
to performing live on MTV.
She first appeared at the VMAs back in 2005,
where she turned a pre-show stage
into a full on Caribbean carnival.
Ri then jetted overseas to perform
her first number one single, SOS, at the 2006 EMAs.
Ri then made her VMA main stage debut in 2007
to perform Umbrella and Shut Up And Drive.
After that, she opened the VMAs four times
and also made her return to the EMA stage in 2010.
Over the years, Rihanna has been nominated for 41 VMAs
and won Video Of The Year twice, once in 2007 for Umbrella.
- Thank you MTV!
- [Narrator] And again in 2012 for We Found Love.
- Rihanna!
- I love you, Rihanna Navy, it's navy or die.
- [Narrator] In 2016, we awarded her with our highest honor,
the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award.
- My success is not my own, it's my family's,
it's my fans, it's my country's,
it's the Caribbean as a whole,
it's women, it's black women.
- [Narrator] She performed all
of her hits and it was iconic.
Early on in her career, Rihanna shared
that she was interested in exploring acting.
- Well, acting is something
that I'd definitely love to get into.
I want to act and we're gonna take that
a little more seriously after the release
of Good Girl Gone Bad Reloaded.
Acting is something that I didn't know if I would love
I didn't even know if I would like it
but I wanted to try it.
- [Narrator] Now, she's getting ready
to hit the big screen in Ocean's 8.
- [Woman] What's your name?
- [Nine Ball] Nine Ball.
- What's your real name?
- Eight Ball.
- [Narrator] Throughout her career
Rihanna's always been true to herself.
- You just remain exactly who you are.
We like you, as Rihanna.
- [Narrator] Rihanna, we loved being a part
of your journey and we can't wait to see what's next.
- Thank you MTV, I had so much fun!