RIHANNA FEELS STRONG BOND WITH HAITIAN EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

Bajan native Rihanna jumped at the chance to record a charity song benefiting the victims of the Haitian earthquake disaster because the devastation hit so close to home, it felt like it "happened to Barbados".

The Umbrella beauty has joined forces with mentor Jay-Z, producer Swizz Beatz and U2 rockers Bono and The Edge for the track Stranded - Haiti Mon Amour, which they performed as part of George Clooney's Hope For Haiti Now telethon on Friday night (22Jan10).

Rihanna admits she was rocked when news of the earthquake first broke on 12 January (10) because she considers any fellow Caribbean native as part of her ext ended family.

She says, "In the Caribbean, we think of ourselves as one big family, one country. We're all together. We all represent each other. It's like (the earthquake) happened to Barbados."

The Hope For Haiti Now event, which also featured performances from Madonna, Coldplay, Beyonce and Alicia Keys, raised more than $60 million for the earthquake relief effort.