Rihanna shared intimate family photos with her fans on Monday when she Tweeted pictures of herself with her recently deceased Gran Gran Dolly. The chart-topping island girl Tweeted several photos taken as she sifted through her grandmother’s belongings in her first visit to the Brooklyn home since Gran Gran Dolly’s death.
A photo featuring a 17-year-old RiRi standing beside her grandmother Clara “Dolly” Brathwaite, received more than 100, 000 likes and generated thousands of comments from fans who were apparently moved by the display of domestication. Rihanna also posted photos of a scrap book her Gran Gran Dolly kept of all of her news clippings prompting Rihanna’s Twitter followers to tell her that her grandmother was proud of her accomplishments.
“She was so proud of you when she died,” Tweeted one follower. Another added: “She will always be smiling down on you.”
This is the second time Rihanna, 24, paid tribute to her beloved Gran Gran by sharing photos with her followers. Rihanna posted pictures of her grandmother to Twitter and Instagram shortly after learning of her death in early July. Beneath one photo, the songstress wrote: “Goodbye #grangranDolly get your beauty rest until I see you.”
The photos Tweeted on Monday also showed Rihanna cozied up next to her grandfather, Drew Brathwaite, who still lives in the Brooklyn apartment he shared with his wife of more than 50 years.
Though the ‘Where Have You Been’ singer may be taking some downtime to reflect and connect with family, her early release of the “Diamonds” single plowed straight to the top of the digital charts—for a minute. The single, originally scheduled for release in November, became available on September 27. Insiders speculate that the early release was a strategic move to keep Rihanna ahead of boy band One Direction who she’s been battling on the charts for the last few months.
The “Diamonds” single topped 1D’s “Live While We’re Young” single, which was sitting pretty with record-breaking pre-release orders, for one day then fell to number nine on the iTunes single chart. “Live While We’re Young” is currently the number one downloaded single on iTunes.
