Rihanna Is MTV News' #3 Woman Of The Year
Which stars had the biggest year? All this week, we'll be unveiling our top nine men and women of 2009, counting down to the #1 man and woman on Friday.
3. [artist id="1940303"]Rihanna[/artist]
Rihanna's 2009 was defined by one date: February 8. That's when she was [article id="1604609"]assaulted by her then-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown,[/article] after an argument on the eve of the Grammy Awards. And from day forward, Rihanna -- who, thanks to a string of hits, had become a global star -- took on a very different role.
It wasn't the kind of role we're used to seeing pop stars play, and for much of the year, Rihanna kept silent about it, even as reports of [article id="1604962"]previous abuse by Brown[/article] began to surface, and details about the incident began to surface. When she finally [article id="1605533"]broke her silence[/article], it was with a simple statement, issued through her representatives, which said that she would not make any further comment on the matter.
She reportedly [article id="1606098"]reconciled with Brown[/article], but, after intense media scrutiny, ended the relationship. And this is where the second part of her remarkable transformation began: Rihanna went from being a victim to an empowered, driven, fiercely independent artist. And that voyage is what makes her our #3 woman of the year.
9. [article id="1628138"]The Kardashians[/article]
8. [article id="1628150"]Susan Boyle[/article]
7. [article id="1628247"]Kristen Stewart[/article]
6. [article id="1628302"]Britney Spears[/article]
5. [article id="1628311"]Miley Cyrus[/article]
4. [article id="1628384"]Beyoncé[/article]
3. [article id="1628415"]Rihanna[/article]
2. [article id="1628466"]Taylor Swift[/article]
1. [article id="1628490"]Lady Gaga[/article]
2009 Highlights: After distancing herself from Brown (who copped a [article id="1614453"]plea deal[/article]
and was sentenced to 180 days of community labor, domestic abuse counseling and ordered to have [article id="1619519"]no contact with Rihanna[/article] for five years, Rihanna slowly began to reappear in public, [article id="1610725"]hitting the town with Katy Perry[/article]
and [article id="1610610"]walking the red carpet[/article] at the Met in New York. She then got back to the business of making music on [article id="1616871"]Jay-Z's "Run This Town"[/article] and appeared in [article id="1612417"]Kanye West's "Paranoid"[/article] video. There was even talk of an [article id="1622008"]"edgy" new album[/article], from none other than Justin Timberlake.
Then, in mid-October, Rihanna shocked fans with a simple Tweet: [article id="1623762"]"The Wait Is Ova. Nov 23 09"[/article]. It heralded the arrival of a brand-new album, [article id="1624236"]Rated R[/article], which [article id="1624218"]Ne-Yo advised would be a big one[/article], saying only "World, get ready." After a couple of early previews, she debuted the proper first single from the album, a moody, subdued track called [article id="1624241"]"Russian Roulette"[/article], which showed that, yes, she was still heartbroken, but she was ready to move on.
She began her promotion for R with a deeply personal [article id="1625783"]interview with Diane Sawyer[/article], detailing her family's history of abuse and admitting that her relationship with Brown had bordered on "an obsession." She would later [article id="1625853"] tell MTV's Alexa Chung[/article] that she did the Sawyer interview "to give insight to people who have been through what I have ... it's helping save lives."
Rated R, a darkly complex album, [article id="1627383"]bowed in November[/article], selling 181,000 copies in its first week, and Rihanna continued to push the envelope with subsequent singles, like [article id="1628197"]"Hard,"[/article] which features a verse by Young Jeezy (the video for which premieres on MTV today), and news of a [article id="1627551"]"daring" world tour[/article]. And, as 2009 draws to a close, she remains very much in control, very much empowered. She's the year's most inspiring comeback story, even if it seems like she never really went away in the first place.
Which stars had the biggest 2009? Over the next week, we'll be unveiling our top nine newsworthy, controversial and fascinating men and women of the year. We based our list on factors like music sales, box-office performance, MTVNews.com headlines and traffic, overall reach (crossover singles, appearances in movies, licensing of songs for commercials, clothing lines, etc .), plus X-factors like "impact" and "buzz. " (And no, President Barack Obama didn't make the list -- we'll leave that to the folks at Time.) This is by no means an exact science, but we think the list we've put together represents the men and women who helped make 2009 the most exciting and memorable 12 months in recent history.
We'll be rolling out our list of the Top 9 Men and Women of 2009 two per day until Friday, when we unveil MTV News' Man and Woman of the year! As always, we want to know what youthink, so weigh in with comments below, or upload them to Your.MTV.com!
