International pop star and business mogul Rihanna has garnered a reputation for being fearless, bold, and seemingly unflappable. But even the cool-as-ice Barbados native has had her fair share of terrifying moments that would send shivers up even the most courageous spines — some of which she experienced before ever leaving her Caribbean hometown. 

Long before she was leaving us speechless on the red carpet or becoming a billionaire completely separate from her iconic musical career, Rihanna was getting her breath taken away by the otherworldly, paranormal, and supernatural.

Indeed, maybe these childhood memories are what helped her become so unshakeable today. After all, being a globally recognized celebrity is scary, but is it really scarier than seeing something straight out of a William Peter Blatty film? 

Rihanna shared her terrifying experiences in a 2010 interview with Los Angeles radio DJ JoJo Wright, leaving everyone in the studio stunned, to say the least.

Growing up in the church in Barbados

Rihanna has always been incredibly open about her faith, which stems from being raised in a Christian household in Barbados, a primarily Anglican island in the southeastern Caribbean Sea.

The singer has often shared her thoughts on religion on social media, whether by quoting Christian author and speaker Joyce Meyer or penning her own thoughts, like in a 2013 tweet that reads, "The Power of God can bring you joy unspeakable!!" 

Her faith coincides with the Christian concept of duality between God and the Devil, referencing both on social media and in interviews. In 2019, Rihanna spoke with Interview Magazine about her faith, including a time when she felt her relationship with God was faltering. 

"I felt like maybe I had disappointed god so much that we weren't as close. That was a really hard time, but, thank god, I got through it.

The devil just has a way of making you feel like you're not good enough, and that you're not worthy of god being close to you," Rihanna recalled. And given her chilling experiences, it's unsurprising that the singer would feel such a close, visceral connection to the otherworldly.

Witnessing the paranormal as a child

In her 2010 radio interview (via YouTube), Rihanna admitted to having witnessed several exorcisms as a child. While some happened in the middle of the sermons at the church she attended, she recalled a particularly frightening experience with the otherworldly that took place at home when she was very young.

 

She recounted a group of women, one of whom was her aunt, praying around a table. "One of the girls got up, and she just started screaming. I remember they locked us in the bedroom because they didn't want kids to see that. But she was screaming, throwing herself around, and every time they prayed, she'd start screaming, 'No, no, no,' but in the weirdest voice," she said. Rihanna claimed the exorcism occurred during a bad rainstorm that caused the power to go out, adding to the group's terror — not that an at-home exorcism needed any extra scare factor. 

As the singer tweeted in 2012, "The devil wants to steal your joy because he knows that joy is your strength...that is why sometimes we need each other." Considering her bone-chilling experience watching her family pray over possessed people, her tweet carries even more terrifying, paranormal weight.