Rihanna has told how the events of the past year have made her grow up and become "fearless", as the singer announced she will perform on The X Factor.
The 21-year-old Umbrella star was the victim of domestic violence at the hands of ex-boyfriend Chris Brown in February and has channelled her experiences into new album Rated R.
Asked how she has changed in the last year, Rihanna said: "I definitely grew up, my outlook on life in general, I look at things differently."
Speaking about the album, she said: "It definitely reflects the growth and just different emotions and moods that I've been through.
"It really just tells stories - it's the most personal album I have to date, definitely the most sincere, but very fearless and edgy. It's dark, the lyrics are kind of risque at time."
The Barbadian singer recently spoke out about February's attack in a series of intimate interviews.
Rihanna will perform on The X Factor later this month.
She said: "X Factor is a great show. There are, of course, a lot of viewers so I get to reach a lot of my fans while performing one time at the X Factor.
"It's always fun doing shows like that but the X Factor is such a prestigious show, it's going to be exciting to do it."
The video for her new single Russian Roulette is released on Friday.
© Press Association