In May of this year, it was revealed that Rihanna's father Ronald Fenty passed away at the age of 71. Reportedly, he was surrounded by family when he died away at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Initially, all the public knew about Fenty's death was that it occurred after he suffered a "brief illness." In June, however, his cause of death was made public.
He suffered from acute respiratory failure, pancreatic cancer, and aspiration pneumonia. Secondary causes of death include acute renal failure along with acute tubular necrosis. He's survived by his six children, 10 grandchildren, and a few great-grandchildren.
Now, according to TMZ, Fenty has been laid to rest. His funeral took place in Barbados yesterday (July 8). Rihanna, ASAP Rocky, and their two children Riot and RZA were in attendance.
Rihanna Father Funeral
Each of them carried one of the kids as they all headed into the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, where Fenty's celebration of life was held. Rihanna and her father had a complicated relationship, but fortunately, they were able to make amends before he passed away.
In a 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, she explained that their differences stemmed from how he treated her mother, his battle with addiction, and more.
“I repaired my relationship with my dad,” she confirmed at the time, “I was so angry at him. I was just angry about a lot of things from my childhood and I couldn’t separate him as a husband from him as a father ... As awful as he was to my mom at times, it didn’t compare to how great he was as a father. And I had to come to terms with that. And I was able to close that gap with him.”
