Rihanna: Nude, Named Sexiest Woman Alive, Praising Chris Brown in Esquire!

Following in the smoking hot footsteps of 2010 winner Minka Kelly, Rihanna has just been dubbed by Esquire magazine the Sexiest Woman Alive. Really, Esquire?

We might have gone in another direction there, but the Barbados-bred singer is known for being sexy, and she knows it. There's simply no denying that fact.

Not that the c-word dropping artist cares. "At the end of a concert, I don't feel like I've been this sexy thing. Really, I don't even think about it," she says.

Concert-goers, Internet oglers and Dudley O'Shaughnessy beg to differ:

Rihanna does concede that at times, parts of her act are overtly sexual.

"With 'Skin' or 'S&M,' or when I cover Darling Nikki,'" she allows. "There's a section that's called 'Sex' in the show, which is the obvious section for sexuality."

Obviously.

But that's as far as she'll go -- even if she admits that she loves choosing men from the audience on whom she can grind.

"Like, really? It's never that deliberate in the rest of the show. I don't even really ... I could maybe see 'What's My Name?' - the dancing is pretty sexy. 'Rude Boy.' But I don't know. I guess people find different things sexy."

As for the obligatory comment on the Chris Brown incident ...

"It's incredible to see how he pulled out of it the way he did. Even when the world seemed like it was against him, you know?" she says, somewhat surprisingly.

"I really like the music he's putting out. I'm a fan of his stuff."

"I've always been a fan. Obviously, I had some resentment for a while, for obvious reasons. But I put that behind me. It was taking up too much of my time. It was too much anger. I'm really excited to see the breakthrough he's had in his career."

"I would never wish anything horrible for him. Never. I never have."

Chris Brown fans can certainly appreciate that sentiment.

If Rihanna is moving on and even looking at Chris' career so positively, he must be doing something right. Maybe some of his detractors will follow her lead.