Ask Blackie

The platinum-selling music superstar is lending her name and using her influence for something other than promoting a product. The ‘Pon De Replay’ singer is urging her fans to help save the life of Shannon Tavarez, an 11-year-old star of Broadway’s hit musical ‘The Lion King’ who was recently diagnosed with acute leukemia.

“Being a performer myself I know what it’s like to be given the opportunity of a lifetime at a young age, and I would have been destroyed if that was taken away from me,” the Def Jam Records chart topper and CoverGirl spokeswoman said. “Shannon deserves to live and share her beautiful voice with the world.”

Rihanna, who Tavarez considers her idol, got wind of her plight and felt she had to do something to help – urging her fans to register with DKMS atWWW.GETSWABBED.ORG to save Shannon’s life and the lives of other leukemia patient’s life.

Tavarez, who performed four shows a week as young Nala in ‘Lion King,’ needs a bone marrow transplant. Her mother is African American, and her father is Dominican. According to a spokesperson, only 8 percent of the 7 million registered donors are African American, which means that only 17 percent of African Americans in need of a transplant will receive one.

“When I found out, it hit me really hard, like someone was throwing a ball at me,” said the talented tween, who currently lives at Schneider Children’s Hospital in Long Island, where she receives daily chemotherapy treatments. “It was shocking and I thought, why me?”