After previously being dubbed ‘the queen of the Met Gala’, Rihanna used fashion’s night of nights to reveal she was pregnant with her third child.
Overnight, the 37-year-old singer hit the red carpet in a Marc Jacobs outfit which showed off what appeared to be a baby bump.
Soon after her partner A$AP Rocky (real name Rakim Mayers), 36, who served as one of the co-chairs of this year’s event, confirmed the news on the red carpet.
Speaking to reporters, he shared: ‘It feels amazing, you know. It’s time that we show the people what we was cooking up. And I’m glad everybody’s happy for us ’cause we definitely happy, you know.’
He went on to tell AP: ‘Honestly, it’s a blessing nonetheless. Because you know how like some people in other situations at times can be envious of other people. But we’ve been seeing love for the most part. And we real receptive to that and appreciate that, you know what I mean? That’s love. Love is love.’
Rihanna and A$AP have been together for five years after meeting in 2012 when they collaborated on a remix of one of her songs. They then went on to welcome their first child, son Rakim Athelaston Mayers in 2022 before she gave birth to a second son, Riot Rose, the following year.
As the lovebirds celebrate their latest baby news, here’s a look at where their love story began….
How did A$AP Rocky and Rihanna meet?
The pair have been friends since at least 2012 when they worked on the remix of her song Cockiness, but it wasn’t until January 2020 that sources revealed their friendship had turned romantic.
They performed Cockiness during the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards, revealing electric chemistry that had people wondering if there was something between them.
Then, in March 2013, A$AP opened for Rihanna in North America on her Diamonds World Tour, before the singer starred in his Fashion Killa music video later that same year.
Things quietened down for a few years before romance rumours began to swirl again in 2018 when the pair wore coordinating black-and-white outfits at the Louis Vuitton Menswear Spring/Summer 2018 show during Paris Fashion Week.
Headlines exploded with news of their possible romance in 2019 as they walked the red carpet together for the British Fashion Awards, with A$AP wearing a Fenty tuxedo designed by RiRi.
From there, A$AP and Rihanna were spotted together on various occasions throughout 2020, with the singer even enlisting the Goldie rapper for promo shots for her Fenty Skin range in August 2020.
When did A$AP Rocky and Rihanna start dating?
Their romance appeared to grow serious at the end of 2020, as the rumoured couple were snapped together on Christmas Eve in Barbados, with insiders claiming that A$AP spent the holiday with Rihanna and her family in her hometown.
However, they finally went public with their romance in November 2020 before A$AP spoke out about their relationship for the first time.
In an interview with GQ, the rapper described Rihanna as ‘the one’ and ‘the love of my life. My lady,’ confirming what we all wanted to know.
He added: ‘It’s so much better when you got the one. She amounts to probably, like, a million of the other ones. I think when you know, you know. She’s the one.’
As for whether he saw children in their future, A$AP teased: ‘If that’s in my destiny, absolutely. I think I’d be an incredible, remarkably, overall amazing dad. I would have a very fly child. Very.’
In September 2021, the couple went red carpet official when they rocked up to the Met Gala red carpet together wearing equally cosy duvets.
How many children do Rihanna and A$AP Rocky have?
Since then, it’s been an absolute whirlwind for the power couple with Rihanna giving birth to their first son in May 2022 and their second son in 2023.
After giving birth to their first child, it was a year before the pair confirmed they had named their first son Rza after the Wu-Tang Clan rapper of the same name, one of Rihanna and A$AP’s favourite groups.
In February 2023, Rihanna surprised the world when she revealed she was pregnant with her and A$AP’s second baby while headlining the Super Bowl halftime show.
Less than a year after giving birth to Rza, she was not only adjusting to being pregnant again but also had to rehearse for the biggest performance of her career so far.
Their second baby boy was born on August 3, 2023 and TMZ quickly confirmed the couple chose another ‘R’ name. It was later revealed that they had named their youngest Riot Rose, just months after A$AP released a song called Riot featuring Pharrell Williams.
Motherhood has looked beautiful on Rihanna, who opened up on the joys of being a first-time mum in 2023.
Speaking to Vogue in 2023, she said of motherhood: ‘Oh, my God, it’s legendary. It’s everything. You really don’t remember life before, that’s the craziest thing ever. You literally try to remember it – and there are photos of my life before – but the feeling, the desires, the things that you enjoy, everything, you just don’t identify with it because you don’t even allow yourself mentally to get that far, because…Because it doesn’t matter.’
A$AP Rocky has continued to gush about his partner over the years, telling Billboard in August 2024: ‘I don’t think there’s a more perfect person.’
He said of their relationship and growing family: ‘It’s all understanding and compatibility.’
Just like his parents, you can bet little Rza is one heck of a stylish baby, as proven in the family’s first photo shoot for Vogue.
Sharing an insight into her son’s enviable wardrobe, Rihanna said: ‘You know, I always thought doing kid stuff would be cliche and the obvious thing to do when you have a baby. It’s, like, the obvious next step.
‘But when I went shopping, that’s when I realised like, OK, maybe I need to start making the stuff that I want my kids to wear because it’s hard! I got my own idea.’
In another interview about being a parent, Rihanna revealed A$AP doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty.
The superstar told Interview Mag of her partner’s adjustment to fatherhood: ‘Rocky has never shied away from it. He does the shirt up over the nose with a stinky diaper. He gets through it. It’s kind of funny.’
As for the way her life has changed since having children, Rihanna reveals that her outlook has shifted in a major way.
‘I’m actually afraid of s***. The well-being of your kids, you worry about that constantly,’ she said. ‘Nobody warns you that having kids means you’re going to worry every second of your life.’
A version of this article was first published August 22, 2023.
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