Barbados declares ‘diamond’ Rihanna a national hero

December 1, 2021 - 8:59 AM
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Singer Rihanna looks on at the Presidential Inauguration Ceremony to mark the birth of a new republic in Barbados, Bridgetown, Barbados, November 30, 2021. (Reuters/Toby Melville/Pool)

BRIDGETOWN — Barbados declared hit singer Rihanna a national hero at its republican celebrations in her hometown of Bridgetown.

Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that the 33-year-old would be conferred with the honor of National Hero of Barbados to cheers. Rihanna was called up before the crowds to be congratulated by Mottley.

“May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honor to your nation by your works, by your actions,” Mottley told Rihanna, a reference to her 2012 chart-topping single “Diamonds”. —Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Brian Ellsworth in Washington; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Lincoln Feast.