Queen of the single: Rihanna is the first artist to pass 100M sold and streamed

By Chris Leo Palermino July 1, 2015

travis scott sia rihanna anti — Electrolysis / Shutterstock.com

Pop superstar Rihanna now has one more accolade to add to the pile: 100 million singles downloaded and streamed.

The 27 year-old singer has topped the Recording Industry of America (RIAA)’s Digital Single Awards list, making her the first artist to cross the 100 million singles threshold. It’s a huge number, but we’re also talking about a singer who’s released mega hits We Found Love (with Calvin Harris), Stay, Only Girl (In the World),Umbrella, and six other chart-topping singles in the US. It has now been a decade since Rihanna’s first single, 2005’s Pon de Replay, and she’s still going strong.

Related: James Taylor tops U.S. album chart for first time in 47 years

“We’ve given awards to artists for nearly 60 years, but it’s rare that we have the opportunity to recognize a milestone like the one Rihanna has reached,” said RIAA CEO Cary Sherman in a statement. “Congratulations to Rihanna! She has not only surpassed RIAA’s one-hundred million mark, but also is the first artist to do so. It’s a historic feat and a testament to an extraordinary career.”

The honor is the result of 37 separate singles during her career. Nine-time multi-platinum We Found Love was the most popular, but Stay, What’s My Name, and Only Girl (In the World) also received six-time multi-platinum awards. RiRi isn’t just a singles artist, though. She’s amassed 7.5 million albums sold, including the 2007 double-platinum Girls Gone Bad.

Rihanna’s currently working on her eighth studio album featuring the already-released two-time platinum song FourFiveSeconds (featuring Kanye West and Paul McCartney) and the platinum song Bitch Better Have My Money. Kanye West is also producing the to-be-released album.

While Rihanna sits alone at the top of the digital singles mountain, it looks like she may have company in the 100 million club soon: Taylor Swift (88 million singles) and Katy Perry (79 million singles) are close behind, and moving up fast.

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Chris Leo Palermino

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Chris Leo Palermino is a music, tech, business, and culture journalist based between New York and Boston. He also contributes…

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