LA Reid reveals how no one thought Rihanna would be a big star except Beyonce

The former Chairman and CEO of Island Def Jam Music Group. where Rihanna started her journey into super stardom has reveled how the Barbadian diva was overlook in the early days of her career at Island Def Jam.

Rihanna's undoing at the time was that she was signed at the same time as Love & Hip Hop star Tierra Mari ( She sang make her feel , No daddy amongst other songs). No disrespect to Rihanna, at the time many at the label including fans such as myself saw Tierra Mari as te bigger star.

But alas, it was Beyonce who called the attention of the top shots at Def Jam that they had a superstar on their hands.  LA Reid in his upcoming memoir revealed that;

I first laid eyes on her in the hallway,” he said. “I didn’t know she was a singer or anything, just a pretty girl standing outside somebody’s office. Then Jay Z burst into my office.”

What happened next changed Rihanna’s life forever.

It was reported that Rihanna had auditioned at Defjam singing Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, and her own song “Pon De Replay.”

Once Rihanna finished Reid told Jay Z, “Don’t let her leave the building.” And that same day Rihanna was signed to the label.

La Reid also revealed that it was Beyonce who  first notice Rihanna star power;

“At the label, we thought Teairra Marí would be the big star. We spent more time on her, did more work on her, paid more attention to her,” he said. “A bell went off for me, however, when, after [a label] showcase, Beyoncé came up to me and said, ‘That Rihanna girl. She’s a beast.”

Source: Complex Magazine