Ronald Fenty’s Cause of Death Revealed: Rihanna’s Dad Battled Cancer, Pneumonia & More

The cause of death for Ronald Fenty, the father of global superstar Rihanna, has been made public nearly a month after his passing.

According to a death certificate obtained by TMZ, the 70-year-old died from acute respiratory failure, pancreatic cancer, and aspiration pneumonia. Additional contributing conditions included acute renal failure and acute tubular necrosis.

Fenty passed away on May 30th in Los Angeles following what was initially described as a “brief illness.” He was reportedly surrounded by family during his final days, with Rihanna’s brother Rajad spotted at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center just days before his death.

Rihanna, currently pregnant with her third child with A$AP Rocky, was born in 1988 to Ronald and Monica Braithwaite in Barbados. Fenty also shared children Rorrey and Rajad with Braithwaite, as well as three other children—Samantha, Kandy, and Jamie—from previous relationships.

While Rihanna’s relationship with her father has had its public ups and downs, she previously told Billboard, “You grow up with your father, you know him, you are a part of him, for goodness’ sakes! And then he does something so bizarre that I can’t begin to wrap my mind around it.”

In a later conversation with Oprah, she added, “He taught me everything, and as awful as he was to my mom, at times, it didn’t compare to how great he was as a father… I was able to close that gap with him.”

Fenty and Rihanna had also been embroiled in a legal dispute in 2019, which was later dropped.