Rihanna | Umbrella (2007)
"Umbrella" is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna from her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). It features American rapper Jay-Z, who co-wrote the song with its producers Tricky Stewart and Kuk Harrell, with additional writing from The-Dream.
2007-03-29 19:00:00 - Rihanna
The song was rejected on twice; originally written with Britney Spears in mind but her label rejected it, and then Mary J. Blige due to Grammy Awards scheduling. "Umbrella" is a pop, hip hop and R&B song with rock elements, referring to a romantic and platonic relationship and the strength of that relationship.
Entertainment Weekly ranked the song number one on the 10 Best Singles of 2007, while Rolling Stone and Time listed the song at number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007. The song has earned Rihanna several awards and nominations. In 2007, the song won two awards at the MTV Video Music Awards, when it was nominated for four.
At the 58th Grammy Awards in 2008, "Umbrella" also earned Rihanna and Jay-Z a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The song is also listed at No. 412 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". It was listed at No. 332 in the 2021 update.
The song serves as the lead single to the album, and was released worldwide on March 29, 2007, through Def Jam Recordings. "Umbrella" was a commercial success, topping the charts in Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
In the United Kingdom, where the song's chart performance coincided with the prolonged rain and flooding, it was one of the most played songs on radio in the 2000s decade. It managed to stay at number one on the UK Singles Chart for 10 consecutive weeks, the longest run at number one for any single of that decade, and is also one of the few songs to top the chart for at least 10 weeks. The single was one of the highest digital debuts in the United States at the time and remained at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks.
The single's accompanying music video was directed by Chris Applebaum and features Rihanna's nude body covered in silver paint. The video earned Rihanna a Video of the Year at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards and Most Watched Video on MuchMusic.com at MuchMusic Video Awards.
Along with countless amateurs, "Umbrella" has been covered by several notable performers from a variety of musical genres, including All Time Low, the Baseballs, Biffy Clyro, Train, Manic Street Preachers, McFly, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, OneRepublic, Taylor Swift, and Vanilla Sky. Rihanna performed the song at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, 2008 BRIT Awards and was the closing song of the Good Girl Gone Bad Tour (2008), the Last Girl on Earth (2010), and the Loud Tour (2011). It was included in the Diamonds World Tour (2013), and the Anti World Tour (2016). "Umbrella" is also a playable song in the 2012 video game Just Dance 4.