Rihanna has said that her assault by former boyfriend Chris Brown was a “wake-up call”.

Brown attacked the singer shortly before the Grammy Awards in February 2009. He later pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to five years of probation.

In an interview with Marie Claire, Rihanna said the incident was traumatic, but forced her to adopt a new approach to life.

“God has a crazy way of working, and sometimes when stuff happens you feel like, 'What did I do to deserve this? Why was it backfiring on me?'” she said.

'But I needed that wake-up call in my life. I needed a turning point, and that's what God was giving to me.'

Rihanna is due to release her new album 'Loud' next month. The record includes collaborations with Drake and Eminem.

(by Jason Gregory)