Rihanna has made history after becoming the only girl in the world (sorry) to have 10 songs reach one billion streams on Spotify.
The singer, 35, celebrated the milestone with an Instagram post, highlighting exactly why this detail is so impressive: she hasn’t released a new album since 2016.
Three songs featured in the top 10 are from her latest record, titled Anti, which was released in January 2016.
It continues what has been an exciting year for the singer: not only did she play the Super Bowl halftime show, during which she announced she was pregnant with her second child, she received an Oscar nomination for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever song “Lift Me Up”.
Five songs featured in the top 10 are collaborations, while two are taken from her seventh album, Unapologetic, which was released in 2012.
But which is the biggest banger of them all? Below, we rank Rihanna’s 10 most popular songs on Spotify.
10. “Love the Way You Lie” (2010)
Rihanna’s involvement in Eminem’s 2010 song is the perfect distraction from what has recently been re-evaluated as a fairly problematic song. The singer’s vocals on the admittedly very catchy chorus are the song’s peak, peppered in among Eminem’s verses, which address themes of domestic abuse in eyebrow-raising ways. But, according to Rihanna, this was the point – speaking of the track at the time of release, she said she rated the lyrics for being impactful.
9. “This Is What You Came For” (2016)
If there’s one thing that Rihanna and Calvin Harris know how to do, it’s to create a floor-filling banger. It’s no wonder, then, that two of their collaborations have made it into the billion-plus club, this one being their EDM smash of 2016. The song creeps in with Rih’s smoky vocals, all about a luminous female protagonist who has the club’s attention, before dropping into its irresistible “you-ooo-ooo” hook. And we can thank Taylor Swift for that – she’s credited under the pseudonym Nils Sjöberg as a co-lyricist and co-producer on the track.
Rihanna in the This is What You Came For video— (YouTube)
8. “FourFiveSeconds” (2015)
There’s no getting around the randomness of “FourFiveSeconds”, an acoustic soul song infused with a folk-pop sound thanks to Paul McCartney’s guitar. It’s almost a shame that Kanye West, who co-wrote and produced the song, felt the need to be involved as he derails what is actually a rather pleasant song when Rihanna has the mic. It could be one of her best vocal performances.
7. “Needed Me” (2016)
If you’re able to listen to this song and not feel like the hottest thing in the room, you’re not listening loud enough. This Anti anthem has something of a cult following among the Navy (Rihanna’s devoted fandom) and for good reason. Its booming bassline is a perfect companion for the song’s bold message to an ex-lover: don’t get it twisted, she was the star in the relationship, while this mystery ex was just useful for some late-night fun. “Didn’t they tell you that I was a savage?” Rihanna asks, in the song’s most iconic line. If not, we surely know by now.
6. “Stay” (2012)
The Bajan superstar shows more of her vulnerable side in this track, which also features supporting vocals from the song’s writer Mikky Ekko. Taken from her seventh studio album, Unapologetic, ”Stay” is an unforgettable moment of softness amongst the other sharper-edged songs on the record. In the music video, Rihanna is seen singing the ballad while in the bath, mourning the departure of a lover and willing them to stay with her. At one point, it seems as if the singer is really crying, which only adds to the raw emotion that the song conjures for the listener.
5. “Love on the Brain” (2016)
Rihanna does doo-wop on this romantic, Fifties-inspired ballad from Anti – and it’s a certified success. On this sweeping, highly replayable track, Rih is caught up over the end of a relationship that, despite being no good for her, she just can’t get enough of. Though some have questioned Rihanna’s vocal qualities throughout her career, “Love on the Brain” is her best shot at beating the “non-singer” allegations once and for all as she puts her raspy, soulful tones to great use.
4. “We Found Love” (2011)
This euphoric dancefloor banger from Rihanna and Calvin Harris topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a solid 10 weeks upon its release in 2011. The bombastic track lets Rihanna show off her falsetto and her emotional side, with the gorgeous lyric “we found love in a hopeless place” all wrapped up in a ginormous house riff, the energy building and building to the inevitable, cascading drop. Exquisite.
3. “Work” (2016)
Burn-out. We’ve all experienced it, whether from our jobs, our social lives, or our romantic relationships. But never has burn-out been so sexy – and catchy – as in Rihanna and Drake’s mesmerising dancehall hit. The 2016 track, which was nominated for two Grammys, hears Rihanna protest against working so hard for a man. She also uses Barbadian dialect in the lyrics, in a homage to her roots. And it bangs.
2. “Diamonds” (2012)
“Diamonds”, fit with melancholic melody and a soaring chorus that feels like a dagger to the heart, is one of Rihanna’s best songs. Written by Australian musician Sia (unsurprising considering her other credits include the similarly mid-tempo tracks “Chandelier” and “Titanium”), the song is designed to be belted out at the top of your lungs with friends on a summer evening. Two years after release, it was made even better by an appearance in Celine Sciamma’s exemplary film Girlhood (2014).
1. “Umbrella” (2007)
Rihanna’s first Grammy win, featuring and co-written by Jay-Z – was the rocky, rollicking R&B megahit “Umbrella”. The 2007 track was both prophetic – its release coincided with weeks of rain and flooding in the UK – and a small miracle, as it nearly never existed. Britney Spears’s team was originally approached with the song, but they turned it down, paving the way for Rihanna to storm, quite literally, into the Number One spot on charts all around the world.
