Rihanna was declared a National Hero of Barbados during a ceremony Monday to remove Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state and become a republic.
“May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honour to your nation by your works, by your actions,” prime minister Mia Mottley told the 33-year-old singer, who is only the 11th Barbadian to receive the title.
With Prince Charles looking on, Mottley praised Rihanna for commanding “the imagination of the world through the pursuit of excellence with her creativity, her discipline, and above all else, her extraordinary commitment to the land of her birth.”
In 2020, fans campaigned on social media to make Rihanna the new head of state of Barbados (the job went to Dame Sandra Mason).
In 2018, Rihanna was named Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Barbados. A year earlier, Rihanna returned to the street on which she once lived as it was renamed in her honour.