Rihanna

Rihanna's 'WORK' Has Just Helped Billboard Break A New Record

Plus she overtakes Michael Jackson to become the third artist with the most No.1 songs on the chart after The Beatles and Mariah...

Mike Pell

Wednesday, February 24, 2016 - 13:46

With just hours before Rihanna debuts 'WORK' tonight, live for the first time on The BRIT Awards, she goes in with the knowledge she's helped the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the States break a new record for the most consecutive No.1 by non-U.S born artists.

The longest run of eight No.1s in a row by non-American borns was first set in 1985, but since OMI's 'Cheerleader' topped the chart in July last year, there's been artists from outside the U.S. at No.1 ever since...and now RiRi and Drake's 'WORK', which just landed in at No.1, has pushed that to nine!

Rihanna - Work (Explicit) ft. Drake

Here's the nine non-American-born tracks that have dominated the Billboard Hot 100 since last summer:

- OMI (Jamaica) 'Cheerleader' - six weeks at No.1 from July 25, 2015
- The Weeknd (Canada) 'Can't Feel My Face' - three weeks at No.1 from Aug. 22
- Justin Bieber (Canada) 'What Do You Mean?' - one week at No.1 from Sept. 19
- The Weeknd (Canada) 'The Hills' - six weeks at No.1 from Oct 3
- Adele (England) 'Hello' - 10 weeks at No.1 from Nov. 14
- Justin Bieber (Canada) 'Sorry' - three weeks at No.1 from Jan. 23, 2016
- Justin Bieber (Canada) 'Love Yourself' - two weeks at No.1 from Feb. 13
- ZAYN (England) 'PILLOWTALK' - one week from Feb. 20
- Rihanana (Barbados) Ft. Drake (Canada) 'WORK' - one week (to date) from March 5.

Also, 'WORK' marks RiRi's 14th No.1 in the U.S. and now she overtakes the King Of Pop Michael Jackson to become the third artist with the most No.1 songs on the chart after The Beatles' 20 and Mariah Carey's 18.

Now that's workin' it.

28 Times Rihanna DGAF What Anyone Thought

1. 1. RiRi’s seventh studio album, released in November 2012, was titled ‘Unapologetic’. It doesn’t get more obvious than that.

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2. She went completely nude for GQ magazine that same year, as she was voted Woman Of The Year, showing off her tattoos in the process.

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3. Speaking of nudity, back in 2010 Rihanna’s pre-watershed performance on The X Factor received over 1,000 Ofcom complaints, because viewers felt she needed to cover up.

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4. Also in 2010, an Irish farmer complained about her being scantily clad on his land, while filming her We Found Love Video. Maybe he was worried about his baby lambs?

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5. Forgotten the lyrics to RiRi’s mega hit S&M? Allow us to remind you: “Cause I may be bad, but I’m perfectly good at it.” Why, yes, yes you are, Rihanna.

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6. Remember when Rihanna took fans and the world’s media on her 777 tour? Performing seven shows, over seven days, in seven countries, many called her out for not mingling with the crowd, and being constantly late to the stage

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7. Then there was the time a dude dared to call her “baby girl”. Did she let him off with it? No way José.

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8. For Halloween in 2012, Rihanna dressed as the Bride of Mary Jane, complete with marijuana bouquet. No words.

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9. Another of Rih’s finest fancy dress moments? When she ditched the sexy for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles outfit. And she still looked hot!

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10. And we’ll never forget when she dressed as the sexiest Santa of all. Wow.

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11. She had THUG LIFE tattooed across her knuckles in white ink, tweeting her visit to Hollywood’s Shamrock Social Club tattoo parlour, in homage to the late Tupac – despite some of her followers’ protests.

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12. Oh, and you thought Britney was the biggest snake charmer of all? Rihanna outdid her with this Medusa-esque GQ cover.

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13. Rih took pole dancing lessons in her stride ahead of shooting her Pour It Up video.

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14. RiRi always has the best night ever when she parties with Cara. We mean, just look at them.

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15. One of Rihanna’s biggest flip-the-bird moments came when Instagram deleted her account, because of her raunchy photos. The social media giant reactivated @BadGalRiRi hours later, but she boycotted them for the whole summer.

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16. Oh, and this was the magazine cover that had tipped Insta over the edge, where Ri definitely isn’t giving a damn. The ‘Work’ singer was shot for French magazine Lui by Mario Sorrenti.

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17. The 2014 FIFA World Cup was a glorious time, when RiRi live tweeted the entire thing, and flashed her bra during a Germany vs. Argentina game.

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18. Sometimes the best accessory for a night out just happens to be a Vivienne Westwood penis clutch.

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19. We’re all so used to seeing Rihanna with long hair, but loved it when she shook out her extensions and embraced her natural short curls.

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20. RiRi sent paps at the 2014 CFDA Awards wild when she wore her infamous ‘naked’ dress. Made of 230,000 Swarovski crystals and not much else, the Adam Selman creation left little to the imagination.

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21. At her Rogue Man fragrance launch in October 2014, a reporter dared to ask Rihanna what she was looking for “in the next man”. Her response? “I’m not looking for a man, let’s start there.” Girl. Power.

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22. Rihanna was bridesmaid for her BFF/assistant Jenn Rosales which makes sense, as the two are inseparable. Seriously, these girls do EVERYTHING together.

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23. Ri’s 2015 Met Ball dress went viral, with Twitter users comparing its elaborate train to everything from pizza to an omelette being fried over Sarah Jessica Parker’s flaming headpiece. She stood by the Guo Pei creation regardless.

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24. Some fans weren’t happy about Bad Gal’s ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’ video, labelling it “misogynistic”. However, it’s still racked up over 70 million YouTube views, with Rihanna remaining entirely nonplussed.

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25. In September 2015, she shared a fake handbook for her company, Fenty Corp, on Instagram. Among her rules? Shorter lunch breaks for “fat people” and a dress “according to your salary” clause.

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26. RiRi kept us all waiting so long for her eighth studio album, Anti, that we started to think it didn’t actually exist...

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27.…until she dropped the whole thing on a random Thursday in January 2016 and made it downloadable for free. See, she doesn’t care about money, either.

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28. Though fans did get a little tetchy when, a day later, they were graced with three more new Rihanna tracks – but they had to pay for them through iTunes. Well, Rih did sing BBHMM, after all.

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Rihanna

Rihanna's 'WORK' Has Just Helped Billboard Break A New Record

28 Times Rihanna DGAF What Anyone Thought

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