Rihanna does the double

09/01/2011

Grammy award winning Rihanna scores the fifth UK number one single of her career as What’s My Name featuring Canadian rap artist Drake climbs from last week’s number two to take pole position in the new Official Singles Chart released today, the Official Charts Company reports. 

This feat makes Rihanna the first female solo artist in chart history to achieve five number one singles in consecutive years with What’s My Name following Only Girl (In The World) (2010), Run This Town (2009), Take A Bow (2008) and Umbrella (2007).  The only other solo artist to achieve this feat was Elvis Presley who went on to have number one records in a total of seven consecutive years between 1957 and 1963.

Rihanna’s album Loud also holds on to its number one slot in the Official Albums Chart this week giving the Barbadian born, US based artist the second UK chart double of her career, after her 2007 album Good Girl Gone Bad and single Umbrella topped the Official Albums and Official Singles Charts simultaneously.

Loud beat off stiff competition from Plan B’s The Defamation of Strickland Banks which had been ahead in the race for pole position in last Wednesday’s Official Chart Update.  Loud has now spent eight weeks in the Official Albums Chart Top 5 (two of those weeks at number one) and sold some 890,000 copies since its release in November last year.  Rihanna has sold over 25 million records worldwide.

There are no less than two other records bearing Rihanna’s name in this week’s Official Singles Chart Top 10; her previous number one Only Girl (In The World) is at number nine and David Guetta’s Who’s That Chick featuring RIhanna is a re-entry at number ten (up from 13 last week) having previously peaked at number nine in December last year. 

Elsewhere in the Official Singles Chart Top 10, the BBC’s Sound Of 2011 winner, Jessie J, climbs to number five from last week’s 18 with Do It Like A Dude and Katy B’s Lights On featuring Ms Dynamite is a re-entry at number four up from last week’s number 11 having entered the charts two weeks ago, also at number four.

In the Official Albums Chart Top 10 there are two re-entries: Cee Lo Green’s The Lady Killer climbs to its highest chart position yet at number four (up from last week’s 13) having entered the chart at number ten last November while Rumer’s Seasons Of My Soul climbs to number six (up from last week’s 21) having entered the chart at number three last November.

Notes to Editors
 
1.   Chart information quoted from this release must be credited to The Official Charts Company
 
2.  The Official Charts Company (OCC) is a joint venture between record labels’ body the BPI and ERA, the Entertainment Retailers Association.   The OCC is responsible for the commissioning, marketing, distribution and management of the UK’s industry standard music and video charts and is endorsed by the BVA (British Video Association).
 
3. The Official Charts Company compiles its charts from sales information gathered across all key distribution (or entertainment) channels including all major high street retail chains, independent stores, supermarkets, mail order internet retailers and digital music service providers. This market research sample equates to 99% of the total UK Singles market; 98% of the total UK Albums market and 90% of the total UK DVD market.
 
For further information contact:
Amy Howard, Official Charts Company.
T: 01480 860 530  M. 07768 891 264
E: amy@theofficialcharts.com
W:  www.theofficialcharts.com
The Official Chart Update with Greg James, 3.30pm-4pm, BBC Radio 1
The Chart Show with Reggie Yates, Sunday 4pm-7pm, BBC Radio 1.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/
Ends.                                                                                                                                            

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