Rihanna Breaking Record

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Nineteen year old Rihanna is set to become the first artist in more than a decade to have a song at the top of the UK singles chart for ten weeks.

Her current single, Umbrella, has currently spent nine weeks perched at the top of the charts and midweek sales auger well for the Barbadian born beauty.

If, as predicted, Rihanna stays on top this Sunday, she will become only the seventh artist to achieve the feat since the charts were first recorded in 1952. 

The last song to top the chart for more than nine weeks was Wet Wet Wet’s Love Is All Around in 1994 which stayed at the top for 15 in total. 

Two more songs in the 90s – Bryan Adams’ (Everything I Do) I Do It For You (16 weeks in 1991) and Whitney Houston I Will Always Love You (10 weeks in 1992) – stayed at the top for more than 9 weeks.  The other three songs to do this were all released in the 1950s.

Rihanna, whose current track features rapper Jay-Z, released her first single in 2005.  That song, Pon de Replay, reached #2, as did later releases SOS and Unfaithful.  Umbrella is Rihanna’s first number one in the UK.

Earlier this year Rihanna released her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, after previous records Music of the Sun and A Girl Like Me.

Grammy Award nominated Chris Brown wrote a reply to Umbrella called Cinderella.  The song shares the same music but the words differ.  Many pop radios stopped playing his song shortly after it was out due to complaints from listeners but it receives more airplay on urban radio than the original track.

The singer, christened Robyn Rihanna Fenty, performed recently at the Tokyo leg of Live Earth and this month announced her first arena tour of Great Britain.

With her career and recognition in the UK, we predict Rihanna will gain more exposure and following in the U.S. soon enough!