Rihanna takes No. 3 for Billboard’s 25 Greatest Pop Stars of the 21st Century, and we’re breaking down why the pop diva has earned her rank with her Hot 100 No.1s, Billboard Music Awards and more! Which Rihanna song is your favorite? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00With 14 Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s, 12 Billboard Music Awards, and the most No. 1 hits of any artist in the 21st century.
00:08Our No. 3 Greatest Pops star of the 21st century is the Bajaan Queen herself, Rihanna.
00:16Rihanna began her music career at 17 after a successful audition with then Def Jam label heads Jay-Z and L.A. Reid.
00:22She quickly found success with Ponda Replay, her lead single off her debut album, reaching No. 2 on the Hot 100.
00:29And the first single, S.O.S., off her sophomore album, becoming her first No. 1 on the chart.
00:39Rihanna was quickly making a name for herself and growing up fast.
00:42After the success of her first two albums, Rihanna was ready to do something different, entering her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad.
00:50The album's title was a sign that Rihanna was growing up, leaving her good girl image behind.
00:55And that the singer was ready to take full control of her music as well as her look to become the bad gal we know and love today.
01:01And RiRi did just that, debuting her new edgy look with Umbrella.
01:10Umbrella became one of Rihanna's biggest and most well-known hits, spending seven weeks at No. 1.
01:15The success of Umbrella and Good Girl Gone Bad helped cement Rihanna as a pop icon.
01:20As Rihanna continued to change her look throughout the years, she also experimented with her sound.
01:25And she racked up the No. 1s while she did it, like tapping into her Caribbean roots for tracks like Rude Boy.
01:31Flirty collabs with Drake like What's My Name?
01:34Emotional ones with Eminem like Love The Way You Lie.
01:37Or high-energy EDM collabs with Calvin Harris like We Found Love, her longest-running No. 1 on the Hot 100.
01:45Rihanna's 14 No. 1 hits make her the artist with the most in the 21st century so far.
01:54She also has two No. 1 albums, Unapologetic and her last album, Ante.
01:59Ante produced massive hits for Rihanna like Work and Love on the Brain.
02:03And solidified Rihanna's place as one of the best hitmakers of the 21st century.
02:07We can't wait to see if there's more music from Rihanna to come.
02:10Who will be top two? Leave your predictions in the comments.
02:13And tune in next Tuesday when we reveal No. 2 of our greatest pop stars of the 21st century list.