With eight studio albums and massive popularity worldwide, there is no contesting that Rihanna is one of the world’s most successful musicians. Does the Shut Up and Drive singer play any instruments?
Robyn Rihanna Fenty plays one instrument, which is her own voice. In 2010, she did practice playing the drums with Blink-182’s famous drummer, Travis Barker. Other famous female musicians that can only sing are Beyonce, Christina Aguilera, and Jennifer Lopez.
Scroll down to read more about Rihanna’s musical dabblings, the instruments used in her music, and other female musicians who don’t play any instruments.
Instrumentation in Rihanna’s Music
If there is one thing that Rihanna’s music is known for it’s the sexy dance tunes and her vocalisation. Unlike musician’s like Adele who is known for the strong use of instrumentation, Rihanna’s music consists of strong island vibes with its dancehall feel and hip hop beats.
In her albums, Rihanna’s songs haven’t used a lot of traditional instruments relying heavily on electronic mixing. Looking at the credits on her sixth studio album, Talk That Talk, there are only three instruments used: guitar, bass, and keyboard. On her most recent album, Anti, there are a few more instruments used including the synth, drums, and organ. Looking at the credits for any of her albums, Rihanna is only credited with vocals, songwriting, and production roles.
Learning Drums with Travis Barker
Despite the fact that Rihanna can’t play any instruments professionally, it doesn’t mean she hasn’t tried her hand at messing around on some of them. In March of 2010, Rihanna had the chance to hang out with a guy who has been hailed as one of the world’s best drummers.
Spin magazine reported that the Bajan singer had gotten in touch with Blink-182’s drummer, Travis Barker, to learn some new tricks. Travis Barker has been a drummer in the ska and punk music scene since 1993. A lot of people have argued that he is one of the best contemporary drummers of our time. Rolling Stone magazine named Barker as number 99 on their list of 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time. No wonder Rihanna went to him for some lessons.
You can watch Rihanna and Travis Barker getting together to play on the drums by following the below YouTube link.
What Other Female Musicians Don’t Play Instruments?
Rihanna is no exception when it comes to being a famous musician who doesn’t play any musical instruments. There are actually plenty of other female musicians who can’t play any musical instruments other than their voices.
Queen Bey herself doesn’t play any musical instruments. This probably doesn’t come as a huge shock because when was the last time you saw the singer playing an instrument? That obviously hasn’t had any affect on her success either. The former Destiny’s Child member is known for her beautiful voice and killer dance moves. Beyonce is also one of the world’s richest female musicians.
The Dirty singer, Christina Aguilera, doesn’t play any instruments. Aguilera is very famously known for her four octave voice and ability to hold long throaty notes. Despite only using her voice, Aguilera has had a career spanning almost three decades. This career has not only been in music, but spanned film and reality television.
Finally, the latin pop and R&B diva, Jennifer Lopez, has had a majorly successful career using only her voice. J.Lo has been a massive hit not only with songs like Jenny From the Block, but with her film and television career.
So maybe, like Rihanna, all of these women don’t play any musical instruments. There are some other things they all have in common though. All of them know how to do one thing really well, which is sing. They are also all massive successes with huge careers spanning multiple industries.