Rihanna’s father dead at 70: Ronald Fenty ‘passes in LA following illness’

By CHRISTINE RENDON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

Published: 17:48 BST, 31 May 2025 | Updated: 18:00 BST, 31 May 2025

Rihanna’s father Ronald Fenty has reportedly passed away at age 70.

TMZ has reported that Ronald died in Los Angeles following an illness. 

Starcomm Network, a radio station in Rihanna’s native Barbados, has also reported Ronald’s death, adding that family members are now in California. 

DailyMail.com has contacted representatives for Rihanna for comment. 

Rihanna has had a tumultuous relationship with her father which saw them become embroiled in legal woes at one point. 

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Rihanna’s father Ronald Fenty has reportedly died at age 70

TMZ has reported that Ronald died in Los Angeles following an illness; pictured with his daughter in 2006

Ronald has battled addiction to crack cocaine in the past and has long been a heavy drinker.

Rihanna told Oprah that as a child she witnessed her father physically abuse her mother, once breaking her nose.

Then in 2008 Ronald was sent home from her North American tour following his drunken behavior on her tour bus.

Ronald has said that Rihanna then froze him out for two years before they reconciled.

In 2013 the singer quietly put Ronald through a $58,000 Malibu rehab program to save him from jail after he was arrested during a visit to California.

But in in 2014 Ronald was thrown out of her Diamond Ball after embarrassing his daughter by getting drunk and falling over on the red carpet.

He left California without seeing his daughter on that trip, although the two later reconciled once more.

Rihanna, her father, and brother Rajad Fenty in 2012

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Rihanna’s father dead at 70: Ronald Fenty ‘passes in LA following illness’

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