The Barbados native, 23, whose repertoire includes edgy songs such as her recent hit S&M, beat Katy Perry for the top spot. But she confided to the magazine that she doesn't perceive her raunchy concert performances as being sexy.
"At the end of a concert, I don't feel like I've been this sexy thing," Rihanna says in the magazine's cover story on her. "Really, I don't even think about it."
Also making Esquire's list were actresses Emma Stone, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Mila Kunis, Vera Farmiga, Maria Bello, singer Beyonce and US national women's soccer team goalie Hope Solo.