It’s the Anniversary of Rihanna’s First No. 1 Billboard Hit
On May 13th, 2006 Rihanna’s hit single, “SOS” topped the charts.
In 2006, 13 years ago, a girl from the Caribbean island of Barbados wowed the nation as her fun beats and her addictive voice pumped through our speakers. “SOS” was one of her hit singles off the album A Girl like Me.
The song was awarded the Much Music Video Award for iHeartRadio International Artist of the Year and nominated by MTV, MTV Europe, and MTV Australia in different music award categories. The song also hit number one on the American Billboard Hot 100 Chart for three consecutive weeks and spent eight consecutive weeks at number one in Australia. “SOS” did so well it was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
One of the reasons critics loved the song so much is the sampling used in the song. The song sampled the 1981 recording of “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell. You can go back and listen to it to see if you can pick out where it was used in Rihanna’s song.
Since her 2006 hit Rihanna has added 13 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, which makes her the second woman in history, behind Mariah Carey (18), to have the most number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart— complete icon status.
