Since 2005, Rihanna has released a new album just about every year. According to the pop star, this year won’t be any different.

Despite the fact that it’s been less than a year since “Loud,” her latest mega-selling album was released, or that she has been quite busy filming movies based on favorite children board games, touring the world, modeling underpants and issuing orders for any Ronald McDonald wig under the sun to be fetched for her, it appears the singer has still managed to find the time to finish recording a new LP.

With such a packed and impressive schedule, one can only assume other areas in her life might be neglected, like her being able to send tweets in coherent English. However on Thursday she was able to send a couple headline-grabbing messages via Twitter.

When one asked asked when her next album would be out, Rihanna answered this fall.

Although it isn’t clear when the followup to “Loud” will be out, another reply from Rihanna on Twitter did open some speculation up about the direction her new record might take. Rihanna wrote, you know since “Rated R” I’ve been loving Dubstep, when she was responding to a question from a fan about her new album.

This summer, MTV News report that Rihanna had been working with Verse Simmonds, the Man Down producer. Simmonds in July said Rihanna was close to finishing the record.

Although there is only one week left for “The Voice,” Cee Lo Green, who is one of the coaches on the show, says that’s one of his reasons for quitting the Loud tour he has been performing with Rihanna.

The New York times reported that Green has announced he is dropping out of the summer tour partially due to his commitments to the reality singing competition on NBC, but also to prepare a book and new album.

A spokesperson for Green said Cee Lo always put one hundred percent effort into his work. The time commitment and requirements for “The Voice,” in addition to his upcoming book and headed back to the recording studio, has him feeling he wouldn’t be able to give his fans what they deserve in the shows.

The announcement from Green came after a Twitter fight that became very public that Green and one of the local music critics had. After getting a negative review from the critic for the show, Green lashed back. He thought the critic was a man and some found his response homophobic. Subsequently, he apologized for offending anybody, but didn’t apologize for defending his performance or himself.

In early June, Green joined the tour with Rihanna, which has performances scheduled in 17 Canadian and U.S. cities at least through July.

‘Man Down’, Rihanna’s new video, is causing uproar among conservative TV and radio critics and parents. We all know she has become rebellious and the antithesis of a role model after she got beaten up by former boyfriend and R&B star Chris Brown, but many uptight viewers who have seen the video think that the Grammy winner is just taking things too far.

In the radio show ‘Rolling with Nick Cannon’ airing over 92.3 NOW, co-host Sarah Lee explains what sprung the controversy. “They want her to be a sweet pop-y girl that did the umbrella song, but that’s not who she is anymore.”

With the video’s suggestive and violent images, plus the song’s explicit lyrics (“I just shot a man down in Central Station” and “I took his heart when I pulled up that gun” among others), the question now arises whether the character the singer portrayed in the video had justifiable reasons to shoot the man who raped her or if she was asking to be raped in the first place (Rihanna was somewhat scantily clad while gyrating sexily on the dance floor and flirting with every guy).

A woman from New York called the show and commented, “Any woman should wear whatever she wants, she could be naked and it doesn’t give any man the right to touch her.” But Lee sees it differently, “This caller is saying if you walk outside nobody should touch you, I totally disagree. To me it was just bad judgment on her part. She’s a role model, a great role model. Since the Chris Brown incident she’s gone on the dark side and a lot of parents are upset.”

But that viewpoint raises another significant question; does Rihanna even want to be a role model? The answer lies in her Twitter post today, “I’m a 23 year old rockstar with NO KIDS! What’s up with everybody wantin’ me to be a parent? I’m just a girl, I can only be your/our voice!”

And BET has her back in all of this and won’t be pulling the plug off the video anytime, despite calls and petitions from the Parents Television Council and music video watch group Industry Ears. Both groups have released a joint statement saying, “Man Down is an inexcusable, shock-only, shoot-and-kill theme song. In my 30 years of viewing BET, I have never witnessed such a cold, calculated execution of murder in primetime.”

So whether these conservatives are just over-reacting or Rihanna is really being sexually and violently over the top, is still up for debate.

Worldwide chart topper Rihanna is saving a little girl’s life, or at least she’s trying to after having her blood and bone marrow screened and calling out on some of her friends and fans to the same.

“Can you help me find a lifesaver for baby Ayelet and other patients? Get swabbed (tested) because maybe You can save a life!” was Rihanna’s tweet in an effort to gather more bone marrow donors for Ayelet Galena, a one-year old patient fighting for dear life after being diagnosed with a rare bone marrow disorder, leaving with her a severely compromised immune system.

Aside from RiRi, 50 Cent also had himself screened to see if he could be lined up among the much needed donors for Baby Ayelet. Leighton Meester, best known as Blair in the CW series ‘Gossip Girl’, rapper and producer Pharrell Williams and rap metal act Linkin Park were all influenced by the singers’ selflessness that they also decided to do the same and encouraged their own fans and friends to partake in the act as well.

Rihanna has always been known to have a soft spot for young ailing patients. In 2009, she, along with President Barack Obama, helped six-year old leukemia patient Jasmina Anema. She did get the bone marrow transplant she needed within the same year, but still lost her fight for life after contracting pneumonia.

The ‘S&M’ singer expressed her grief over Jasmina’s death via a statement. “I am incredibly heartbroken that Jasmina has passed away. She was such a brave and special child. She showed me more strength and spirit that many adults I have met. I feel blessed that I was able to have her in my life and know that through her example, she has saved many lives. She was truly an angel on earth.”

Rihanna is on a roll these days. Not only is her new single, ‘California King Bed’, climbing up the charts, and so is the album (‘Loud’) where the hit track came from, but she has now crossed over to mainstream flicks, starring in the upcoming Peter Berg action film ‘Battleship’ and even doing her own stunts, because her stunt double just won’t do.

“She dove off the deck, slammed herself on a metal grate, grabbed an actor and dragged him back to the raft. Then she looked up at me and had this big smile on her face – she did it all better than the stuntwoman! There’s definitely not a confidence issue with Rihanna,” a very impressed Peter Berg explained.

But the director didn’t let the rebellious Grammy winning singer have it easy. Speaking to Cosmopolitan, RiRi tells the magazine that she had to beg him to allow her to be practically slammed and shoved in those scenes that she did.

“I kept going, ‘Put me in there!’ For me, it’s tougher to be vulnerable than to be tough. The only thing I’m secretly terrified of is childbirth!” Well, that’s no secret now.

‘Battleship’ opens in cinemas in 2012.

Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, Eminem and Rihanna are the leading finalists for Billboard’s 2011 Music Awards. They were announced on April 13 during a Las Vegas press conference.

The leading finalist is Rihanna with 18 award categories. They include Top Dance/Electronic Artist, Top R&B Artist, Top Female Artist and Top Hot 100 Artist. Rihanna’s chart-topping track “Love the Way You Lie” with Eminem placed her as a finalist in six of the song categories.

Eminem, meanwhile, is included in 16 award categories as a finalist, including Top Rap Artist, Top Male Artist and Top Billboard 200 Artist.

Lady Gaga is next with 12 category finalist placements. Three of her releases are competing in the Top Dance/Electronic Album: “The Remix,” “The Fame Monster” and “The Fame.”

Justin Bieber and Bruno Mars, the pop heart throbs, are each competing in 11 categories. They will face off in the Top Male Artist and Top New Artist categories. Other contenders for Top New Artist are Taio Cruz, Nicki Minaj and Ke$sha. Taio Cruz’ song “Dynamite” has been nominated for five awards, which includes Top Hot 100 Song.

Billboard’s Music Awards show will take place in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sunday May 22 to announce the winners. The show will air on ABC from 8-11 pm ET and PT. To purchase tickets visit Ticketmaster.com.

A holistic view of artist performance is taken by Billboard’s Music Awards. It is based on musical-finalists’ interactions with the fans. Winners are determined from looking at streaming and social activity as well as chart performance chronicled on Billboard.com and Billboard Magazine during the February 28, 2010 through March 1, 2011 eligibility period.

The basis for Billboard’s 46 award categories are from measures that are provided by their data partners. They include Nielsen SoundScan sales data, radio airplay that Nielsen BDS monitors, streaming data that Neilsen BDS and Tubemogul measures, social media consumption measured by Next Big Sound, as well as tour grosses that Billboard Boxscore tracks.

In an effort to draw attention to the water deficit worldwide, Rihanna is allowing UNICEF to use her likeness in a new advertising spot to promote its Tap Project. Rihanna, known for her song, “What’s My Name” is shown drinking from a glass filled with tap water while an announcer states, “Water so hot it could only come from Rihanna’s faucet.”

Rihanna is one in a long line of famous people whose faces have graced the sides of tap water bottles. Others include Selena Gomez of the Disney Channel; Taylor Swift, country singer; and Adrien Grenier, star of “Entourage.” Fans can enter a contest to win one of these limited edition bottles by donating $5 to the project.

The Tap Project was established in 2007 in New York City. It is designed to bring attention to the deficit of clean drinking water for nearly 900 billion people throughout the entire world. It also aims to collect money to fund clean water initiatives on a worldwide basis. Based on information from UNICEF, infections caused by contaminated water are the second-leading reason why kids all over the world die.

B. Akerland, stylist for Rolling Stone, had not styled Rihanna prior to the shoot for the most recent edition of the magazine. However, she knew instantly what she had to do. She said to Rolling Stone, “Her people told me the direction that we were going was if Kid Rock and Rihanna had a baby. So, I tried to think of things she hadn’t done. And everyone kept on saying super sexy, super sexy, and I’m like, okay, I’ll give you sexy.”

The outcome was that Rihanna was photographed in a pair of shredded Levi’s shorts that barely cover her body, a white tank top, and a red bandanna she wears as a bracelet. Of course, the shorts are the main draw. Popdust said, “Rihanna is sporting a revolutionary booty-flaunting garment that’s part shorts, part apron, and part nothing.”

The shorts were designed for Akerlund by Michael Schmidt, a designer that often works with her on assignments. Akerlund stated, “I like everything that sparkles, so I was just trying to think of, like, what can we do that’s not crystals, because we’ve done a lot of it, and then I was trying to come up with like, what is the hottest short on the planet, basically. And then we came up with this concept of photo digitizing on top of metal mesh. Akerlund has styled Lady Gaga, Kate Moss, Fergie, and Madonna, among others.

Prior to the photographing session, Akerland did not have the opportunity to see if the shorts even fit. Akerland said, “I was just looking at the pictures online of like, her bum. I was just trying to figure out how she liked her shorts, and how they would end and cut.”

It took 7 days to make the shorts and they could not be altered once they were completed due to the details that were incorporated into the design. Akerland stated, “I just kept on saying, go shorter, go shorter. I knew we couldn’t go much shorter, but I think the end result was just right.”

On the same program where Chris Brown recently threw a temper tantrum, “Good Morning America” is rumored to have his former girlfriend Rihanna and the singer himself on the set at the same time.

Two years have passed since the couple was the focus of the press following a fight between the two that happened following the 2009 Grammy Awards program. Rihanna emerged from the altercation with several deep bruises. Pictures of her injuries were passed around the Internet causing the music industry to spurn Brown. The singer then lost several sponsorships and was labeled as disingenuous following an appearance on Larry King’s talk show when he showed up with his trademark bowtie. When he later appeared at the BET Awards that same year, he broke down in tears while in the midst of a Michael Jackson memorial presentation. It was obvious that he was dealing with his sorrow for not just Jackson but for other reasons as well.

Brown has had a long road to travel as he tried to repair his reputation. But, he recently released his fourth album entitled F.A.M.E. was released at the top of Billboard’s Top 200 Albums List. This was in spite of several new pictures of Rihanna and her injuries in 2009 being leaked online.

The last time Brown was on ABC’s “Good Morning America” it was to advertise his album. However, Robin Roberts, co-host of the morning show continued to bring up Brown’s altercation with Rihanna. He was evasive with several of the questions and became quite angry following the session with Roberts. He then proceeded to allegedly break a window using a chair from the dressing room and leave the studio without a shirt. He did apologize to the studio and was allowed back on the program. It appears that now Rihanna could come with him.
It is also apparent that fans do not want this reunion to happen.

@TreasureLuvsRih tweeted, “No one wants a Rihanna & Chris Brown reunion =/ Let that s**t go, please!” and @MizLovie sent out the message, “Soooo about this chris brown rihanna reunion… o_0”

Rihanna, who is on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine this week, does not seem to be upset at all about Chris Brown. She has even loosened up the restraining order terms that have been put upon Brown.

Rihanna gave an interview to Rolling Stone in which she said, “That’s my decision…it doesn’t mean we’re getting married tomorrow. It doesn’t mean we’re gonna be in a relationship, or make up, or even talk ever again. It just means I didn’t want to object to the judge.”

Rihanna did, however, say there would not be a reunion.
She said, “We don’t have to talk again in my life. I just didn’t want to make it more difficult for him professionally. What he did was a personal thing – it had nothing to do with his career. Saying he has to be 100 feet away from me, he can’t perform at awards shows – that definitely made it difficult for him…But you can never please people. One minute, I’m being too hard, and the next minute, I’m a fool because I’m not being hard enough.”

It could be possible that “Good Morning America” has a few ideas that will lead to the reunion; however, a lot of people don’t think so.

@suzieallover tweeted, “Me believing that ‘skins’ is good quality tv is like a chris brown/Rihanna live reunion special. Never going to happen.”

Rihanna goes country for one night at the upcoming ACM Awards in Las Vegas this April via a rare duet with Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles for the song “California King Bed”, RiRi’s new single. She could not contain her excitement that she had to tweet about it: “I’m so bloody excited to be performing at the ACM’s! What an honor…” Apparently, she had also gone British.

Apart from Rihanna and Jennifer Nettles who, along with her Sugarland half Kristian Bush is in the running for the ACM Top Vocal Duo of the Year award, all six ACM Entertainer of the Year nominees namely Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Brad Paisley, Miranda Lambert and Toby Keith, will be performing in the said event as well. Alabama, Dierks Bentley, Zac Brown Band, Carrie Underwood, Sara Evans, James Taylor, Ronnie Dunn and Martina McBride are also appearing in the event as special performers.

The 46th Annual Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards will be held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on April 3. Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton will be hosting while Ryan Seacrest, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and Nancy O’Dell are among the night’s presenters.