Rihanna and celebrities at NYC DKMS Gala talk about the Royal Wedding

Right before the Royal Wedding, Rihanna and an array Hollywood stars visited New York City to appear at the DKMS's 5th Annual Gala.

On Thursday night, Rihanna and headlining celebrities such as Mary J. Blige appeared at the DKMS to raise awareness for leukemia.

US Magazine reports other high profile celebrity guests attending the DKMS Gala included Cyndi Lauper, Eva Mendes, Vera Wang, Leighton Meester, Pharrell Williams, David Bowie and Iman. Mary J. Blige gave a special performance at the event and Sir Elton John also attended.

The stars shone in NYC, raising a record $2.5 million at the Gala to combat leukemia. According to the DKMS websites, "The DKMS mission is to save lives by recruiting bone marrow donors for leukemia patients. DKMS is the largest bone marrow donor center in the world."

If you missed the Gala, you can still make a donation at the DKMS website or by calling toll free to 1-866-340-3567.With the Royal Wedding only a day away, Rihanna spoke about the happy couple at the DKMS Gala. According to Extra, Rihanna gushed, "It's marriage! It should be exciting. You guys look in love. I'm really excited for you."
Cyndi Lauper also had something to say to Prince William and Kate Middleton,"Live a happy life, you know it's a long road. Be as happy as you can."

On an inside note, Sir Elton John confided, "William is a lovely boy. They're both lovely boys. Their mother would be so proud of them. So pleased that he's marrying what seems to be a really wonderful girl, so good luck to them.

RIHANNA doesn’t need a man to be happy.

Asked by In Touch Weekly magazine if she’s enjoying the single life, the singer responded, “Who doesn’t enjoy being single!”

Rihanna then revealed what keeps her calm and centered in her chaotic world.

“Good friends. Good people around you,” she said. “That’s very important.”

Rihanna recently revealed she likes nothing more than to chill out at home and catch up on her favorite shows.

“When I have a day off, I usually just laze around for as long as possible. I watch TV in bed, blast music out really loudly, or maybe go shopping,” she said.

“But recently when I’ve had time off, I haven’t been shopping at all. I’ve just stayed at home watching TV.“I really miss being away from home. What I miss most is my family, the food, some of the music and definitely the weather — sunshine makes me happy!

“Barbados has a different culture and I miss being part of it, having it as my everyday life. Being a singer is what I’ve always dreamed of doing, so I’ll never regret that, but I definitely miss home — a lot.”

Rihanna's dating Usher?

Singers Rihanna and Usher reportedly went on a date in New York after getting close at the Coachella music festival in Los Angeles last weekend.

A source close to Usher said the pair have been friendly for a long time and have shared some "passionate kisses".

"They had a really good time together last weekend and wanted to see each other again, somewhere private straight after. They've known each other for a long time. But it's always been bad timing. They've had a few long, passionate kisses. There's definitely a spark between them," The source told The Sun.

According to femalefirst.co.uk, the two singers enjoyed spending time with one another at the Coachella music festival in Los Angeles last weekend and decided to see each other again in New York a few days later.

The source added: "It would have been too obvious to go somewhere in LA and they were both going back to New York for work commitments."

Rihanna accused of acting like a diva over charity shoot

RIHANNA has been accused of acting like a diva after she shot a charity public service announcement for UNICEF, but then caused costly re-editing delays after complaining that she looked heavier than usual in the online video clip.

The svelte songstress participated in UNICEF's Celebrity Tap campaign, which asks stars to donate bottles of their own tap water to raise money and awareness for impoverished children in need of clean drinking water globally.

Rihanna stars in a stylish black-and-white PSA on celebritytap.org, in which she slinks in a clinging black dress down a hallway and into an ultra-modern kitchen where she fills a clear glass with clean tap water and sexily drinks it.

A breathless voice-over says, "Water so hot, it can only come from Rihanna's faucet."But sources familiar with the singer said that when she saw the original proposed video spot, she demanded it be edited because she thought she "looked heavy", the New York Post reported.

The pop star's self-involved demands caused "extensive delays", sources said, holding up the project's launch for more than a week at a cost of more than $14,000.

"We're surprised to hear that," a UNICEF representative said.

"She was not unhappy. We were very thankful. Rihanna was very collaborative and very participatory. What was shot was what exists now."

The representative added that tweaks are "part of the normal creative process" and "no reshoots were done".

She said promotional work was done on a pro bono basis and any extra costs did not come out of the charity's coffers.

The Celebrity Tap campaign also includes celebrities Taylor Swift, Robin Williams, Adrian Grenier, Dwight Howard and Selena Gomez.

Since 2007, it has raised nearly $2.3 million for water and sanitation programs for children in Belize, the Central African Republic, the Ivory Coast, Guatemala, Haiti, Iraq, Togo and Vietnam, according to the organisation.

A representative for Rihanna declined to comment.

International superstar Rihanna at CUC June 19

Rihanna sparked a fan frenzy with her soldout European tour and has announced she'll be bringing her highly anticipated LOUD tour to North America this summer. Credit Union Centre will host this fabulous show, presented by MuchMusic on June 19. Produced by Live Nation, Rihanna's extraordinary show, with special guests J. Cole and Cee Lo Green, will feature all new production, costumes and stage design creating a visual and audio event with the once in a lifetime excitement from one of the brightest stars in music today.

"We're creating an incredible ride with this tour. I'm excited to get out on the road and share my new music from this album," said Rihanna. "We are going to have an amazing time and I know my fans are ready to get LOUD!"Rihanna's third single "S&M" follows the number one hits, "Only Girl" and "What's My Name" both reaching the top of the singles charts. LOUD is Rihanna's fifth album released since 2005 and has reached number one in six countries. Rihanna has sold a collective 22 million albums and 36 million digital singles since her debut in 2005.

Tickets are priced from $19.75 to $99.75 plus service charges and are available at ticketmaster.ca. Rogers is offering a no service fee mobile ticketing service available exclusively for their wireless customers. Visit urmusic.ca/tickets or text TICKETS to 4849 for full event listings and special offers. American Express brings you to the Front of the Line. For information on advance ticket access to the show, visit americanexpress.ca/frontoftheline.

Rihanna Gets a Body Scan at LAX

TSA officials got more than a peek at Rihanna as she went through airport security yesterday. The “S&M” singer, appearing in good spirits, was subjected to a full body scan while traveling from LAX to New York, dressed in a gray tank top and beige trousers, with her hair pinned up in a blue bow.

RiRi will be honored tonight at the 5th Annual DKMS Gala for her dedicated work in the fight against leukemia.

Rihanna's Rolling Stone Stylist Reveals the Concept Behind the Cover

Stylist B. Akerlund had never worked with Rihanna before she got the assignment to choose her outfits for the current issue of Rolling Stone – but she immediately had some ideas. "Her people told me the direction that we were going was if Kid Rock and Rihanna had a baby," she tells Rolling Stone. "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 result was a cover shot of Rihanna wearing a pair of barely-there, torn metallic shorts with a Levi's logo on the back, a midriff-baring white tank top and a red bandanna tied around her wrist. But it was the shorts that had everyone talking. Or as Popdust put it: "Rihanna is sporting a revolutionary booty-flaunting garment that’s part shorts, part apron and part nothing."Akerlund commissioned the shorts from designer Michael Schmidt, whom she frequently collaborates with. "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," says Akerlund, who has worked with Lady Gaga, Madonna, Fergie and Kate Moss. "And then we came up with this concept of photo digitizing on top of metal mesh."

The stylist and the singer didn't have a chance to meet before the photo shoot, so Akerlund knew she was taking a chance with the shorts' fit. "I was just looking at the pictures online of like, her bum," she says, laughing. "I was just trying to figure out how she liked her shorts, and how they would end and cut."