I wish more pop stars cared about how their country is run

 

Barbadian beauty ... singer Rihanna

 

POP superstars don't have a great reputation as caring, genuine or considerate.

But chart-topping Barbadian icon Rihanna bucks that trend.
In one of the busiest weeks of the stunning 22-year-old's career, she made an incredibly sensitive gesture few of her contemporaries would have bothered with.
The singer made a gruelling 48-hour, 8,000-mile round trip - flying from London to her home country of Barbados - to pay her respects at the funeral of the island's Prime Minister David Thompson.
She had no shortage of excuses to duck out, but she chose to be there for a man she admired and respected.

Tears ... Rihanna at funeral of Barbadian PM David Thompson

Islandpaps / Splash News

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, she said: "He was a really dear friend of mine. It just sucks he didn't have enough time to really show Barbados what he was made of and all that he could have done. "Just to be with his family, his friends, people that love him... it felt like it was the worst person it could happen to. He was a great man, great for the country.
"He was great to everyone that he knew, there's not one person that hates or hated this man. He is irreplaceable."
Thompson, who only took office in January 2008, died after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer aged just 48. Rihanna was pictured at the funeral on Wednesday wiping away tears.
She added: "It was very upsetting. I'm not good at the politics side at the moment. It terrifies me because I am so young.
"But maybe one day in years, decades from now, I'll get involved. I think more pop stars should care about their country and how it's run."

Flower power ... singer on stage after her X Factor performance

Ken McKay

Most pop stars would have found an excuse to avoid a long-haul trip as tough as Rihanna's, especially when you consider her hectic schedule last week.
She performed with Bon Jovi, turned on the Christmas lights at London's Westfield Shopping Centre, appeared on The X Factor and starred at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
But the hard-grafting singer made light of it. She said: "I'm a little tired. I think you just have to deal with it.
"You can't fight jet lag. You can't put off work for three days until you get on time. Let's face it, it's a brilliant job and I love it. There are harder jobs in the world."
Another career she is considering in the future is fashion. She's no Lady GaGa, but Rihanna, real name Robyn Rihanna Fenty, has a distinct sense of style.
She said: "The UK is somewhere I definitely enjoy spending my time. I would love to come here and live for months at a time, making music.
"I really get creative here, there is a crazy energy that inspires me a lot, whether it's music, or fashion.
"I see Kate Moss and just think about her style. It's completely effortless with her and so true to who she is.
"It's always spontaneous, it's never thought out, or put together, it's just there and her hair is always messy.
"She doesn't care who is looking, or if there are paparazzi, and it works. She's a f****** rock star, bad ass. She's the s***.
"I love Victoria Beckham's line too, it's so feminine and chic. Really sexy, really, really tailored. That's what she is, she's put a lot of effort into it."
Over the last week Rihanna struck up a strong friendship with X Factor judge Cheryl Cole. They had met before but only swapped numbers on the show last week after Rihanna performed her new single Only Girl (In The World) which went to No1 yesterday.
She said: "It was crazy, we have a mutual friend, so he was in my dressing room at The X Factor and I said I would love to do a song with Cheryl Cole. He told me she just said exactly that next door, so I said to give her my number. He went to her dressing room and now we're going to start talking about that.

Lady in red ... Rihanna oozes glamour on Only Girl single cover

"It seems like it's something my fans really want, and also something that's so not typical for me to do, work with another person who's in the same genre as me, so I think it'll be amazing.
"Cheryl Cole is the s***, not only that she's f****** hot. It really put into perspective how well my new song is taking off because Cheryl Cole is 'it', she is The X Factor. Everybody wants to be on that level."
It's not just Cheryl Cole she admires here. She spends any precious time she has in her hotel room, tuned into British music.

Pals ... Bizarre Editor Gordon Smart with Rihanna

DAVE HOGAN

Rihanna added: "I have always wanted to work with Depeche Mode but there are a lot of newer artists coming out here that I really appreciate, like Ellie Goulding. Her voice is unbelievable. Even if she just writes for me, I want to work with her somehow. I appreciate her art, she's one of a kind, nobody does what she does. "When I'm here I just put the music channels on all day long so I can see what's happening, what I like. That's how I found out about Amy Winehouse before she came to America. And La Roux, I love her."
Rihanna might only be 22, but her fifth album, Loud, is shaping up to be another No1. In the UK alone she has sold more than two million copies of her last two releases Rated R and Good Girl Gone Bad.
She collaborated with Eminem on a song from the new album and was tough enough to stand up to him when their opinions clashed on the final mix.
She has just started enjoying the money that is flooding in, investing a huge slice in a mansion in LA. She has spent a fortune decorating the house with gun-shaped chandeliers, a giant, custom-made sofa and her very own Bob Marley shrine.
"The Bob Marley room is my loungey room, so there's incense burning, there's a painting on the wall of Bob Marley in black and white, which I love.
"The rest of the room goes from green into yellow into red. Then there's a little bar with the old school wood that's usually used in Jamaican houses.

"There's a little coffee table and these seats that are like big pillows on the floor, so it's not formal at all. There are lots of Bob Marley books, lyric books. He's one of my favourite artists of all time - he really paved the way for every other artist out of the Caribbean."
LA mansions, a string of chart-topping hits and a long line of top stars queuing up to work with her. But what's the key to her success? "I think people are afraid to have fun, they're afraid of what people think of them, that fear hinders them from being who they really are and expressing themselves the way they really want to.
"Not everyone is going to love your hair red, but if you want to dye your hair red just do it because you want to, you can do whatever you want. You are a rock star.
"At the end of the day, who the f*** am I living for? It's me, 30 years from now I want to look back and say I really enjoyed it, and lived it to the fullest of my expectations, not like a puppet."
She definitely isn't a puppet. One of the most warm, genuine pop stars I have been lucky enough to meet.