According to Media Takeout, Rihanna is dating Travis Barker, the uber-tattooed drummer of Blink-182. Two Rihanna insiders confirm that RiRi and Travis are mushy puppies over each other—apparently they went on a few dates years ago, but are now seeing each other for real. Supposedly, Rihanna will be appearing in his video for “Can a Drummer Get Some?” It appears the answer to that question is: yes.
On the surface, these two are an odd pairing. She’s R&B/reggae/pop while he’s punk rock. She’s high fashion while he’s T-shirts with insanely big arm holes. She’s 22 while he’s 35. But after the jump, a few things they have in common, besides both liking soup and being able to talk or not talk for hours.
- They love tattoos. The majority of Travis’ body is covered in ink. “I tattooed my body so I couldn’t fall back on anything,” he once said. “I purposely did that so I couldn’t get a normal job and live a normal life. I did it so I had to play music.” Rihanna, meanwhile has 14 tattoos. “I like hanging out in tattoo shops,” she said. “I am so intrigued by tattoos. It’s an entire culture.” [Fashionista 101, Answers]
- Ditto for piercings. He has his lip and nose pierced, while she supposedly has her nipple pierced. [StyleBistro]
- Duh, both of them are musicians. And they both turned to music hardcore circa age 14—he when his mom died of cancer and she when her parents split up.
- Specifically, they both love the drums. In 2010, Travis even gave RiRi drumming lessons. She played them in her video for “Rude Boy.” [Spin]
- Travis has a thing for former beauty queens. He was famously married to Shanna Moakler, who was Miss USA in 1995. Rihanna was Miss Combermere in 2004.
- Speaking of their last big relationships, neither of theirs ended well. When Travis and Shanna split in 2006, Shanna threw a divorce party complete with a cake with knife-wielding bride and a bloody groom. Rihanna broke up with Chris Brown following a physical fight that landed her with serious physical injuries.
- They have a Jay-Z connection. Travis remixed his collaboration with Kanye West, “H.A.M.” And Jay is the one who launched Rihanna’s career.
- They both look good in tight pants. Yep, that’s all I got.
What do you think—a good couple or no?
