Rihanna has told Vanity Fair she still cares about Chris Brown and said will until the day she dies.

Before the 2009 Grammy Awards, Rihanna was punched and strangled by Brown who was later sentenced to five years probation.

"I don't hate him," Rihanna told Vanity Fair.

"I will care about him until the day I die. We're not friends, but it's not like we're enemies. We don't have much of a relationship now."

"I was very protective of him. I felt that people didn't understand him. Even after.. Sometimes you just have to walk away."

Brown is currently campaigning to enter Australia for his One Hell of A Nite tour after Peter Dutton, the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, denied the singer's visa due to his past offences.