Rihanna Ends Drought for Female Artists on Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart
Halfway through the year, and surprisingly (or not surprisingly), the Billboard Hot 100 chart has largely been dominated by male artists. Don’t get us wrong, female artists can be seen throughout the hot 100 chart, but in recent weeks, none of been able to crack the coveted top five songs on the chart. Not in the last 12 consecutive weeks at least. Until, Rihanna.
The Bajan beauty stepped in and had to show the charts and music listeners why she reigns supreme.
Her DJ Khaled-produced song of the summer “Wild Thoughts” made its way up the charts to the fourth spot. Despite her only being a feature, and the trapsoul king Bryson Tiller assisting her on the track, a win is a win, and Rihanna is now the first woman to have a song in the Billboard Hot 100’s top five since April 8 of this year. That’s 12 weeks.
Who else but RiRi, right? The Anti singer can touch anything and turn it gold – most of the time, even platinum. In becoming the victor in this feat, Rihanna also subsequently ended the longest dry spell female solo artists have experienced in almost 45 years!
Billboard reports, “From the charts dated June 12 through Sept. 11, 1982, no female soloists ranked in the bracket for 14 straight weeks…the last time that women were entirely absent from the Hot 100’s top five for at least 12 weeks before the interlude between Swift and Rihanna? Nearly 45 years ago.”
Despite the amount of songs getting radio airwave love, Billboard also reported that “Wild Thoughts” is only the seventh song in 2017 by a female artist (as lead or featured guest) that has managed to break into the top five.
Hopefully, Rihanna is only a taste of what’s to come in female-led hits to make the top five this year.
If you haven’t already, watch the video for the Carlos Santana-sampled track below.
Photo Credit: Screengrab from “Wild Thoughts”/YouTube
