Ronald Fenty, Rihanna’s father, was with his family in Los Angeles at the time of his passing.

Rihanna is mourning the loss of her father, Ronald Fenty, who has passed away at the age of 70.
Rihanna's father, Ronald Fenty, has passed away at 70 after a brief illness in Los Angeles. (badgalriri/Instagram)Rihanna’s father, Ronald Fenty, has passed away at 70 after a brief illness in Los Angeles. (badgalriri/Instagram)

Starcom Network, a media outlet based in Rihanna’s native Barbados, first broke the news. Fenty died in Los Angeles after “a brief illness.” While the official cause and exact date of his death haven’t been made public yet, sources told Starcom that Fenty’s family was by his side around the time he passed.

Photos published by Page Six showed Rihanna’s younger brother, Rajad Fenty, arriving at Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles to visit their father. Rihanna was reportedly in the car with him, but not lensed.

The Grammy-winning artist has not yet publicly commented on her father’s passing.

All on Rihanna and Ronald Fenty’s complicated relationship

Ronald struggled for years with substance abuse, and his addiction created tension within the family. He also separated from Rihanna’s mother, Monica Braithwaite, when the singer was just 14 years old. Rihanna told Vogue that their bond was “really strange.”

“That’s the only word I can think of to describe it because you grow up with your father … you are a part of him for goodness sakes!” she said.

“And then he does something so bizarre that I can’t begin to wrap my mind around it.”

“You hear the horror stories about people going behind people’s backs and doing strange things, but you always think, ‘Not my family. My father would never do that to me,’” she added.

Rihanna, however, told Oprah Winfrey in a 2012 interview that, “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. And I had to come to terms with that, and I was able to close that gap with him.”

However, that peace was tested again in 2019 when Rihanna filed a lawsuit against her father, accusing him of using her name and brand without permission through his company, Fenty Entertainment.