Super Bowl
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While the Super Bowl is one of the biggest television events in the United States every year, the star-studded halftime show is often what gets the most online attention.
In 2023, Rihanna returned to the stage for the first time in more than five years to perform at Super Bowl LVII at Glendale, Ariz.’s State Farm Stadium, and the hype surrounding the performance led to a history making accomplishment. With 121.017 million viewers, RiRi’s performance narrowly surpassed Katy Perry’s 2015 performance as the most-watched halftime show of all time.
Rihanna’s achievement comes after Nielsen revised this year’s original 118.7 million viewers “after a review that revealed encoding irregularities as well as issues with out-of-home measurement,” according to the Associated Press. (The revised report regarding the Super Bowl LVII game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles also made this year’s football match the most-watched Super Bowl in history with 115.1 million viewers.)
Over the years, a number of stars have passed the 100 million viewership mark, stretching all the way back to Black Eyed Peas’ 2011 performance. From Rihanna and Beyoncé to Bruno Mars and Justin Timberlake, see below for the Super Bowl halftime shows with the all-time most viewership.
Jennifer Lopez & Shakira
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Total viewers: 104 million
Two female Latin powerhouses took the Super Bowl LIV stage in 2020, as Jennifer Lopez and Shakira traded off performing their hits, like Lopez’s “Jenny From the Block” and “Waiting for Tonight” and Shakira’s “She Wolf” and “Hips Don’t Lie.” Bad Bunny, J Balvin, and Lopez’s daughter Emme Muñiz all joined them onstage as guests, and the performance had a total viewership of 104 million.
Justin Timberlake
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/GI
Total viewers: 106.6 million
Justin Timberlake 2018 Super Bowl LII performance garnered 106.6 million viewers with hits like “Sexy Back,” “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” and a Prince tribute with a rendition of “I Would Die 4 U.”
Black Eyed Peas
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Total viewers: 110.2 million
With 110.2 million viewers, Black Eyed Peas’ 2011 Super Bowl XLV halftime show performance makes the list. The group performed songs like “I Gotta Feeling,” “Boom Boom Pow” and “Where Is the Love?”
Beyoncé
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Total viewers: 110.8 million
Yes, Bey made the list twice. Her solo show included hits like “Halo” and “Run The World (Girls)” before an iconic Destiny’s Child reunion with Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams to perform “Bootylicious,” “Independent Women Part I” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” The 2013 XLVII halftime show garnered 110.8 million viewers.
Madonna
Image Credit: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Total viewers: 114 million
Madonna took the Super Bowl XLVI stage in 2012 with a viewership of 114 million, as she performed a slew of her hits and welcomed LMFAO onstage to deliver renditions of “Music,” “Party Rock Anthem” and “Sexy and I Know It.”
Bruno Mars
Image Credit: Getty Images
Total viewers: 115.3 million
Bruno Mars brought the heat to 2014’s Super Bowl XLVIII with slick performances of “Locked Out of Heaven,” “Treasure” and “Runaway Baby,” in addition to a guest appearance by Red Hot Chili Peppers. His show garnered 115.3 million views, just shy of Coldplay’s numbers.
Coldplay
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Total viewers: 115.5 million
Beyoncé and Bruno Mars joined Coldplay during the band’s 2016 halftime show, which got 115.5 million viewers with performances of “Yellow,” “Paradise,” “Viva la Vida” and “Fix You,” among other hits.
Lady Gaga
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
Total viewers: 117.5 million
Gaga’s 2017 performance for Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, featured hits songs like “Poker Face,” “Born This Way,” “Paparazzi” and “Just Dance,” and ultimately brought in 117.5 million views.
Katy Perry
Image Credit: Rob Carr/GI
Total viewers: 121 million
With 121 million views, Katy Perry’s 2015 performance at at Super Bowl XLIX trails just behind RiRi as the second most-watched show. The meme-making performance (remember Left Shark?) featured Lenny Kravitz, Missy Elliot and the Arizona State University Sun Devil Marching Band as Perry performed hits like “Roar,” “California Gurls” and “Firework.”
Rihanna
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/GI for Roc Nation
Total viewers: 121.017 million
With 121.017 million viewers, Rihanna’s 2023 performance during Super Bowl LVII is the most-watched halftime show in history.
During her performance at Glendale, Ariz.’s State Farm Stadium, she revealed she was pregnant with her second child with partner A$AP Rocky, and performed Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits like “Only Girl (in the World),” “We Found Love,” “S&M,” “Rude Boy,” “Work” and many more.
Rihanna‘s Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show is officially the most-watched halftime show performance of all time, according to an adjusted Nielsen report Tuesday (May 2).
The live performance — her first in more than five years — attracted 121.017 million viewers during the Feb. 12-dated broadcast. Nielsen’s revised report regarding Super Bowl LVII between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles also makes this year’s big game the most-watched Super Bowl in history.
According to the Associated Press, Nielsen revised this year’s original figure of 113.1 million by 2 million “after a review that revealed encoding irregularities as well as issues with out-of-home measurement.” The new 115.1 million figure breaks the record that was previously set by the 2015 Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, which had 114.442 million viewers (not including streaming). This year’s figure also surpassed that of the 2017 Super Bowl between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots (113.668 million), which previously held the most-watched record out of Fox Sports’ 10 Super Bowl broadcasts.
During RiRi’s now history-making performance at Glendale, Ariz.’s State Farm Stadium, she not only revealed she was pregnant with her and partner A$AP Rocky‘s second child, but she also performed her Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits like “Only Girl (in the World),” “We Found Love,” “S&M,” “Rude Boy,” “Work” and more. Ahead of her big night, Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty lingerie and clothing brand sold “Rihanna concert interrupted by a football game, weird but whatever” T-shirts as part of its game day collection. And considering millions more people tuned into her “concert” than the game, there’s truth to that slogan.
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While he may not have a presence on social media Jay-Z doesn’t miss a beat. He sent flowers to an senior home who redid Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance.
As spotted on Bossip the residents at Arcadia Senior Living in Bowling Green, Kentucky got major respect from the legendary MC. It seems they were left very inspired viewing Rihanna’s game changing performance at the Super Bowl Half Time show. So much so they replicated her performance but gave it a more mature flair. They shared the clip on social media and the footage quickly went viral on TikTok. Their hilarious rendition eventually landed on Jay-Z’s radar prompting him to thank them with a spread of fresh florals.
WNKY spoke to some of the residents at the facility to detail how the idea came about. “My grandchildren and I watched and there were flips and flops and I was standing there thinking wow I wish I could do that…and then I did do that,” said Dora Martin. “I went to the doctor the other day and the nurses as soon as I walked in there, knew who I was”. The troop also made it clear that they were very flattered by Jay-Z’s gesture. “We thought about pressing them in a book but we haven’t got a big enough book,” said resident Ora Rampenthal.
You can view their rendition of Rihanna’s Super Bowl performance below which has been viewed over 30 million times, below.
After a group of grandmothers at Arcadia Senior Living Bowling Green went viral on TikTok thanks to their adorable recreation of Rihanna‘s recent Super Bowl halftime show performance, Jay-Z, Roc Nation and RiRi herself have taken notice.
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The living facility revealed on Facebook that the “Love on the Brain” singer sent the group a gorgeous bouquet of white roses. “You ladies’ dance was amazing,” the note signed by RiRi and Roc Nation reads. Billboard can confirm that the star and her team sent over the sweet token of appreciation. See it here.
The gesture comes just a week after Jay-Z sent the living facility a huge display of red roses. “We love the TikTok here at Roc Nation,” the agency’s founder wrote in the note. See Jay-Z’s gift here.
The group of grandmothers at Arcadia Senior Living Bowling Green shared their viral video last week, in which they’re seen taking on the remix of Rihanna’s 2009 hit “Rude Boy” from the Super Bowl performance. In the clip, a number of elderly women are lined up and dressed in white — exactly like RiRi’s dancers. They move out of the way one by one to reveal one last senior citizen, dressed in red like the singer was at the Super Bowl. The grandma then sings her heart out to “Rude Boy” while dancing and holding a microphone.
At the time of publication, the post has more than 30 million views and 3.5 million likes.
Rihanna‘s recent Super Bowl halftime show performance has been making waves on social media for the past few weeks, with TikTok users recreating dance sequences from RiRi’s highly anticipated return to the stage.
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A group of grandmothers at Arcadia Senior Living Bowling Green have joined in on the fun this week, sharing a video to the living facility’s official TikTok page in which they’re seen taking on the remix of Rihanna’s 2009 hit “Rude Boy” from the Super Bowl performance. In the clip, a number of elderly women are lined up and dressed in white — exactly like RiRi’s dancers. They move out of the way one by one to reveal one last senior citizen, dressed in red like the singer was at the Super Bowl. The grandma then sings her heart out to “Rude Boy” while dancing and holding a microphone.
“Our halftime show > Rihanna’s halftime show,” the caption reads. At the time of publication, the video has more than 24 million views and 3 million likes.
It’s hardly the first incredible lip sync the ladies at Arcadia Senior Living Bowling Green have taken on. They previously shared a video to the tune of Miley Cyrus’ Billboard Hot 100 chart topper, “Flowers,” taking the lyrics literally as they buy themselves flowers, write their names in the sand and talk to themselves, among other empowering activities in the song’s chorus.
“Miley Cyrus is reminding us that self love is our super power,” they captioned the sweet post, along with a number of emojis.
Rihanna‘s Super Bowl LVII halftime show made headlines for a number of reasons, not the least of which was the singer’s surprise pregnancy reveal. But, according to a long list of comments received by the Federal Communication Commission, it also resulted in more than 100 complaints from across the country about what some viewers deemed an overly sexual performance.
“Inappropriate touching and dance moves, very raunchy for a family to watch. Little kids do not need to see this,” read one note from a complainant in Rockton, Illinois, even as another described it as “sick sick sick.” A number of other notes referred to “sexualization, genital grabbing, sniffing of her fingers,” as well as “gyrating… and rear end… grabbing,” “filth,” “perpetual air humping… glorifying being a stripper” and a description of dancers “holding their hands up the cracks of their butts and pumping,” in a note from Plainwell, Michigan that misidentified the performer as Shakira; the latter shared the stage with Jennifer Lopez in 2020 in a performance that, not for nothing, derw more than 1,000 FCC complaints.
One all caps screed from Depew, New York went deep, with the writer lamenting, “FRIENDS AND FAMILY GATHER TO WATCH THE SUPERBOWL. WHY DO WE CONTINUE TO HAVE TO BLACK NOISE YEAR AFTER YEAR. THEY CAN’T SING OR WRITE ANY DESCENT MUSIC. ALL I HEARD WAS WORD WORD WORD WORD WORD WORD WORD WORDWORD WORD WORD WORDG. BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK AND GO DOWN ON ME, GO DOWN ON ME GO DOWN ON ME OR GO DOWN ON YOU ETC. I DEFINATELY [sic] DON’T CONSIDER THIS MUSIC., AND I DON’T APPRECIATE SEEING HER AND HER DANCERS GRABBING THEIR CROTCHES ON NATIONAL TV!. THE NFL SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF WHAT THESE 1/2 TIME SHOWS HAVE BECOME.”
Another one from Brush Prairie, Washington pleaded, “Can we please have a half time show where the artist doesn’t grab their crotch or try to dry hump the lead singer. I really don’t want to see 30 back up dancers doing pelvic thrusts. Ew. Also, twerking should rank up there with the F bomb,” while a viewer from Colorado Springs, Colorado suggested, “If I were to go to a place where children were present and did these same motions, I would probably be arrested. Therefore, I don’t see how it is fair for it to happen on television against our will and without warning. Quite infuriated that things like this continue to bepermitted.”
Yet another from Ellicott City, Maryland, said they were literally sickened by the show, writing, “The halftime show was disgusting. Scratching your crotch and anus and the sniffing your fingers makes me puke. The devil sequence was blatantly anti Christian and so inappropriate. Why is this trash allowed on television?”
And while a handful of complaints were focused on the commenters calling the game and the ASL interpreter, nearly all were squarely focused on RihRih’s performance and the writers’ beliefs that the content was not family friendly.
At press time a spokesperson for the NFL declined to comment for this story and a spokesperson for halftime show producer Roc Nation had not returned a request for comment.
The Super Bowl halftime show is no stranger to controversy and pearl-clutching complaints, from those who were offended by Eminem taking a knee during the 2022 show to viewers overstimulated by the site of Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine’s nipples in 2019, and, of course, the many complaints following the 2004 show where Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson’s nipple in an incident dubbed “Nipplegate.”
On Feb. 12, Rihanna headlined the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in Glendale, Ariz., using less than 15 minutes of airtime to amplify her sprawling discography.
In a spur of debuts and re-entries, she logs 16 titles on the Feb. 25-dated Billboard Global 200 chart and nine on Billboard Global Excl. U.S., more than any other act on either of this week’s surveys. In all, they totaled 257.2 million streams worldwide in the week ending Feb. 16, according to Luminate.
American football is a specifically stateside sport, but the Super Bowl is a major pop cultural event. The NFL revealed that an estimated 208 million Americans watched this year’s game, while The Athletic estimates an additional 40 million viewers outside the United States.
All of those eyeballs on Rihanna created a firestorm of consumption worldwide. She properly performed 12 songs during her halftime set, and those dozen tracks averaged a week-to-week streaming increase of 231%.
Her hit parade is led by 2007’s “Umbrella,” featuring Jay-Z, debuting on the Global 200 at No. 32 and re-entering Global Excl. U.S. at No. 66. The classic spent three weeks on the latter chart in January 2021 but never hit the former until now.
2012’s “Diamonds” and 2011’s “We Found Love,” featuring Calvin Harris, both crack the top 50 of the Global 200, at Nos. 40 and 47, respectively, while arriving at Nos. 71 and 77 on Global Excl. U.S.
“Only Girl (In the World),” “B**** Better Have My Money,” and “Where Have You Been” debut further down both charts. “Work,” featuring Drake, “Run This Town,” with Jay-Z and Kanye West, and “Rude Boy” debut on the Global 200 while missing the Global Excl. U.S. ranking.
The superstar performed three other songs during her set – “Pour It Up,” her featured verse on DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts,” and her refrain from West’s “All of the Lights” – that miss both charts.
But while Rihanna’s hyper-curated setlist spurred chart activity for specific tracks, the performance also drew listeners to her entire discography, hungry to rediscover deeper hits as the seven-year gap since her last studio album continues to widen. She charted an additional seven songs from beyond her halftime performance. See below for a rundown of all of Rihanna’s globally charting hits on the latest lists.
The seven songs above that were not performed drew the smallest streaming bumps, up anywhere from a still notable 23% (“Lift Me Up”) to 107% (“Don’t Stop the Music”). Next are the songs that were performed that were generally expected to be performed, and therefore had already been picking up steam in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. “Umbrella” was up by 131%, “Diamonds” by 138%, “Only Girl (In the World)” by 159% and “We Found Love” by 160%.
Then, there are big-to-massive gains for songs that may have surprised fans with their inclusion and had smaller global streaming counts to begin with, and therefore more room to grow after last weekend’s exposure.
Among all Rihanna tracks, the seemingly NSFW “B**** Better Have My Money” got the biggest gain, up 594% globally to 14.7 million streams. “Pour It Up” followed, up 334%. Those songs’ original releases, in 2015 and 2012, respectively, predate Billboard’s global charts but they peaked outside the top 10 of the U.S.-based Billboard Hot 100, where Rihanna has 32 career top 10s. Including both in a tight 12-song set alongside six former No. 1s (and another three top five hits) ensured a massive resurgence.
Across the board, Rihanna’s gains in the U.S. were bigger than those beyond. That is to be expected considering that an estimated 80% of the viewing audience watched from somewhere in the U.S. Still, Rihanna’s 12 songs from the halftime show averaged a 201% gain in non-U.S. streams. That’s notably smaller than the 297% average domestic gain, but still enough to land more than a handful of songs on the Excl. U.S. ranking.
Rihanna vaults from No. 22 to No. 1 on the Billboard Artist 100 (dated Feb. 25), becoming the top musical act for the first time since the chart began in 2014, thanks to catalog gains following her performance at the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show on Feb. 12.
Rihanna performed 13 songs during her set, and in turn, generated her largest streaming week ever, according to Luminate. Her song catalog earned 166.1 million U.S. on-demand official streams in the week ending Feb. 16. That’s up 156% compared to the previous week’s sum of 65 million. (She logged her previous best streaming week in the week ending Feb. 25, 2016, when her collected songs rung up 101.5 million clicks in the U.S., shortly after the release of her most recent studio album, Anti.)
Five of Rihanna’s albums chart the latest Billboard 200: Anti (No. 8), Good Girl Gone Bad (No. 15), Unapologetic (No. 18), Loud (No. 26) and Talk That Talk (No. 49). She becomes just the seventh act in the last 50 years to chart at least five albums in the top 50, joining Taylor Swift (who has claimed at least five titles in the region 18 times, including on the latest chart), Mac Miller (once following his death in 2018), Prince (three times, following his death in 2016), Whitney Houston (three times, following her death in 2012), the Glee cast (once in 2010) and Garth Brooks (four times in 1992).
On the Billboard Hot 100, Rihanna tallies four songs, three of which are former No. 1s that re-enter: “Umbrella,” featuring Jay-Z (No. 37), “Diamonds” (No. 44) and “We Found Love,” featuring Calvin Harris (No. 48). Her latest single, “Lift Me Up,” which debuted at No. 2 in November, rises 52-41.
Among other Artist 100 chart moves, Paramore re-enters at No. 5, marking the trio’s first top 10 appearance, thanks to its new studio album, This Is Why. The set opens at No. 1 on Top Rock & Alternative Albums and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 64,000 equivalent album units earned. It earned the act its first No. 1 on the Alternative Airplay chart, among six top 10s, with the title cut earlier this month.
The Artist 100 measures artist activity across key metrics of music consumption, blending album and track sales, radio airplay and streaming to provide a weekly multi-dimensional ranking of artist popularity.
SZA’s SOS claims a ninth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Feb. 25) — the most weeks atop the list for an album by a woman in nearly seven years. The last set by a female artist to spend at least nine weeks at No. 1 was Adele’s 25, which ruled for 10 nonconsecutive weeks between Dec. 12, 2015, and March 12, 2016.
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SOS earned 93,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 16 (down 7%), according to Luminate.
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200: Paramore’s This Is Why debuts at No. 2 — the highest charting alternative album in eight months, while Rihanna’s former No. 1 Anti returns to the top 10 for the first time since 2016, following her halftime show performance at the Super Bowl on Feb. 12.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Feb. 25, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Wednesday (Feb. 22), one day later than usual, owed to Presidents’ Day holiday on Monday (Feb. 20) in the U.S. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of SOS’ 93,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Feb. 16, SEA units comprise 92,000 (down 7%, equaling 126.73 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 500 (down 1%) and TEA units comprise 500 (up 2%).
In the last 10 years, only three albums by women have spent at least nine weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200: SOS, Adele’s 25 (10 in 2015-16) and Taylor Swift’s 1989 (11, 2014-15).
The last R&B/hip-hop album with at least eight weeks atop the list was Drake’s Views, which 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 (May 21-Oct. 8, 2016). SOS has the most weeks at No. 1 for an R&B/hip-hop album by a woman, or an R&B album by a woman, since Mariah Carey’s self-titled debut spent 11 weeks, all consecutively, at No. 1 in 1991. (Honorable mention to the Whitney Houston-led soundtrack to The Bodyguard, which logged 20 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 in 1992-93. The 12-track album has six songs by Houston and six songs by other artists.) SOS has the most weeks at No. 1 for an R&B album by any act since Usher’s Confessions ruled for nine nonconsecutive weeks in 2004. (R&B/hip-hop and R&B albums are defined as those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top R&B Albums charts, respectively.)
Paramore scores its highest-charting album in nearly a decade, as This Is Why debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. It’s also the highest-charting alternative album in almost a year. This Is Why is the band’s first album since After Laughter was released in May 2017; it debuted and peaked at No. 6. The group’s last album to go higher was its self-titled 2013 release, which debuted at No. 1 on the April 27, 2013-dated list.
This Is Why begins with 64,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 47,000, SEA units comprise 17,000 (equaling 21.3 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The album was ushered in by the album’s title track, which became the act’s first No. 1 on the Alternative Airplay chart (in February) after 11 previous entries going back to 2007.
This Is Why is the highest-charting alternative album on the Billboard 200 since Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Unlimited Love debuted at No. 1 on the April 16, 2022-dated chart. (Alternative albums are defined as those that have hit or are eligible for Billboard’s Top Alternative Albums chart.)
Swift’s former No. 1 Midnights falls 2-3 on the Billboard 200 with 60,000 equivalent album units earned (down 3%).
Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album is a non-mover at No. 4 with 44,000 equivalent album units earned (down 4%). Dangerous has now accumulated 107 nonconsecutive weeks in the top 10 on the Billboard 200. It now solely has the third-most weeks in the top 10 among all albums since the chart began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March of 1956, surpassing the 106 weeks tallied by the soundtrack to the film West Side Story. Dangerous continues to have the most weeks in the top 10 for an album by a single artist. The all-time top 10 record-holder is the original cast recording of My Fair Lady, with 173 weeks in the top 10 between 1956-60. See list, below.
Albums With Most Weeks in Top 10 on Billboard 200 Chart (March 24, 1956-onwards)
Weeks in Top 10, Artist, Title, Year First Reached Top 10
173, Original Cast, My Fair Lady, 1956109, Soundtrack, The Sound of Music, 1965107, Morgan Wallen, Dangerous: The Double Album, 2021106, Soundtrack, West Side Story, 1962105, Original Cast, The Sound of Music, 196090, Soundtrack, South Pacific, 195887, Original Cast, Camelot, 196187, Soundtrack, Oklahoma!, 195685, Peter, Paul and Mary, Peter Paul and Mary, 196284, Adele, 21, 201184, Bruce Springsteen, Born in the U.S.A., 1984(through the Feb. 25, 2023-dated chart)
Bad Bunny’s chart-topping Un Verano Sin Ti rises 7-5 with nearly 44,000 equivalent album units (down 4%); Metro Boomin’s former leader Heroes & Villains falls 5-6 with 43,000 units (down 5%); and Drake and 21 Savage’s former No. 1 Her Loss climbs 8-7 with 40,000 (down 7%).
Rihanna’s chart-topping Anti roars back into the top 10 for the first time since its release year, 2016, as the set vaults 50-8 with 36,000 equivalent album units earned (up 166%). The album, Rihanna’s most recent studio effort, surges back up the list following Rihanna’s Super Bowl halftime show performance on Feb. 12, where her setlist included the album’s hit single “Work.” (She also wove in elements of the album’s “Pose” and “Kiss It Better” into the performances of “All of the Lights” and “Rude Boy,” respectively.)
Anti was released a little over seven years ago, on Jan. 28, 2016, and spent two nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 (Feb. 20 and April 2, 2016-dated charts). It was last in the top 10 on the Oct. 16, 2016 chart (No. 9) and last at No. 8 or higher on the Sept. 24, 2016-dated list (when it was also at No. 8).
Anti is Rihanna’s longest-charting album on the Billboard 200, with 355 weeks on the list. That also marks the most weeks ever on the chart for an R&B/hip-hop album by a woman or R&B album by a woman.
Closing out the top 10 of the new Billboard 200 are a pair of former No. 1s: Harry Styles’ Harry’s House is stationary at No. 9 with 33,000 equivalent album units earned (down 13%) and TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION falls 3-10 with 32,000 units (down 33%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.