L.A. Reid Reveals Beyonce Was An Original Member Of The Rihanna Navy

L.A. Reid is notorious for saying it like he means it, and in his new memoir, he’s sticking to that formula.

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The Epic Records CEO is dishing on all the music business behind the scenes juice in his upcoming memoir Sing to Me: My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who’s Next. In the book, Reid recalls meeting Rihanna for the first time and admits to not being able to see her star power just yet.

“I first laid eyes on her in the hallway. I didn’t know she was a singer or anything, just a pretty girl standing outside somebody’s office. Then Jay Z burst into my office,” he writes.

After performing a Beyonce song for him for the first time, Reid realized RiRi would be a star, but not as big a star as she is today. He revealed:

“At the label, we thought Teairra Mari would be the big star. We spent more time on her, did more work on her, paid more attention to her. Rihanna already had a hit with “Pon De Replay,” but we still thought it was the other girl. A bell went off for me, however, when, after the showcase, Beyoncé came up to me. “That Rihanna girl,” she said, “she’s a beast.”

Who knew that Bey was an original member of the Rihanna Navy?

L.A. Reid’s memoir Sing to Me hits stores on Feb. 2.