Next week, Rihanna’s album Anti will celebrate 10 years – a complete decade – on the Billboard 200, the company’s ranking of the most popular full-lengths and EPs in the United States. What’s shocking about that run, in addition to the fact that very few titles have held on that long, is that for much of her career, Rihanna dropped a new album almost every year. Since Anti, she has not delivered another project and only a handful of tunes.
The world has been waiting for new music from Rihanna for a very long time, and there’s every indication that the wait will continue, but thankfully, there’s plenty in her catalog that remains hugely popular. Two of the superstar’s singles climb to new peaks on Billboard’s worldwide tallies this frame long after they were originally promoted.
Among Rihanna’s pair of smashes that surge to new highs, “Kiss It Better” is the only one to do so on two charts. “Kiss It Better,” one of the biggest hits from Anti, advances on the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S., pushing to Nos. 90 and 131, respectively. Those positions are as high as “Kiss It Better” has appeared on the lists, which look at the most popular songs all around the planet.
On the Billboard Global 200, “Kiss It Better” passes two fellow Rihanna classics when looking at her history on the chart. “Where Have You Been” stalled at No. 97, while “Work,” one of her multiple collaborations with Drake, only ever climbed as high as No. 100 in the two frames it spent on the list.
The same single also passes two tracks on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S., though completely different songs. “Stay,” a duet with Mikky Ekko, and “Bitch Better Have My Money” peaked at Nos. 142 and 146, respectively, on the worldwide roster.
At the same time that “Kiss It Better” reaches never-before-seen positions on both the Billboard Global 200 and the Billboard Global Excl. U.S., another even older tune by Rihanna similarly grows. “Don’t Stop the Music” jumps nearly 20 spaces, surging from No. 193 to No. 174, which now stands as the highest it has ever soared. “Don’t Stop the Music” also improves on the Billboard Global 200 to No. 146, though in the past it has danced as high as No. 138.
Another two career-defining hits – of which there are literally dozens when it comes to Rihanna – return to the Billboard Global Excl. U.S., and only that tally. “Love the Way You Lie,” one of several collaborations with rapper Eminem, reenters at No. 178. “Love on the Brain” narrowly manages to break back onto the list at No. 198, in third-to-last place on the 200-spot rundown. “Love on the Brain” can also be found on the Billboard Global 200, where it shoots nearly 20 spaces from No. 176 to No. 157, though “Love the Way You Lie” did not perform well enough in America to make it to the Billboard Global 200.
Rihanna claims half a dozen worldwide wins this week, and two of those tracks neither reach new peaks nor return. “Only Girl (In the World)” holds at No. 167 on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S., while stepping up to No. 181 on the Billboard Global 200. “We Found Love,” her Grammy-winning team-up with electronic dance producer Calvin Harris, declines — her only tumble — on both the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. (No. 160) and the Billboard Global 200 (No. 182).