I’m starting over: Rihanna addresses music retirement rumors

Billionaire business mogul and singer Rihanna has yet to return from her hiatus in music, but she recently made it clear she’ll eventually finish up her highly anticipated R9 album following recent retirement rumors.

The rumors about the Barbadian singer retiring from music swirled after she was recently spotted wearing a T-shirt with the words “I’m Retired” printed on it. But the 36-year-old in a Monday interview with ET at the launch of Fenty Hair at Nya Studios in Los Angeles explained that was not the case.

“People got triggered with that retired word,” the Umbrella singer said. “They were like ‘We’re never getting an album now.’ No one read the other line, it was something about, ‘This is as dressed up as I get.'”

She also said she’s now prepared to return to the studio and work on R9 – the album name her fans coined. “I think that music, for me, is a new discovery,” Rihanna explained. “I’m rediscovering things. I have been working on the album for so long that I kinda put all that stuff aside and now I’m prepared to go back in the studio. I’m gonna start — give me a second!”

The singer, who shares two sons with rapper A$AP Rocky, stated that she’s, however, “starting over” – though she made it clear she doesn’t want to “neglect the songs” she already has. “So I actually want to go back and listen to stuff with new ears, with my new perspective and then see what applies and what I’m still in love with,” she stated.

Rihanna providing an update about her music career comes after her 2012 hit single Diamonds was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) last week. “Wow, I remember where we made it from the jump. It was in London, and I also remember performing ‘Diamond’ on tour,” the award-winning singer told ET about the song.

“Performing it with all the lights…everyone puts their phone out at that very moment. And it’s connected to my grandma. I literally think of her every single time I perform that.”