"Umbrella" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna, featuring a rap verse by Jay-Z. The song was written by The-Dream, Christopher Stewart, Kuk Harrell and Jay-Z, and was produced by Stewart for Rihanna's third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). The song was originally written for recording artist Britney Spears, whose label rejected it. "Umbrella" is a pop and R&B song and lyrically it refers to a romantic and platonic relationship and the strength of that relationship. It is generally considered Rihanna's signature song.

"Umbrella" was well received by music critics, many of whom appreciated the "ella, ella" hook as well as the covincing vocals with which she deilvered the chorus. Entertainment Weekly ranked the song number one on the 10 Best Singles of 2007, while Rolling Stone and Time listed the song at number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007. The song has earned Rihanna several awards and nominations. In 2007, the song won two awards at the MTV Video Music Awards, when it was nominated for four. At the 50th Grammy Awards, "Umbrella" also earned Rihanna and Jay-Z a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

The song serves as the lead single to the album, and was released worldwide on March 29, 2007 through Def Jam Recordings. "Umbrella" was a commercial success, topping the charts in Australia, Canada, Germany, France, the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In the United Kingdom, where the song's chart performance generated controversy when the country was experiencing excessive flooding and large amounts of rain at the time, it is deemed an iconic song and was one of the most played songs on radio in the 2000s (decade). It managed to stay at number one on the UK Singles Chart for ten consecutive weeks, the longest run at number one for any single of that decade. The single was one of the highest digital debuts in the United States and remained at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks.

The single's accompanying music video was directed by Chris Applebaum and features Rihanna's nude body covered in silver paint. The video earned Rihanna a Video of the Year at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards and Most Watched Video on MuchMusic.com at MuchMusic Video Awards. Along with countless amateurs, "Umbrella" has been covered by several notable performers from a variety of musical genres, including Taylor Swift, OneRepublic, Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, Vanilla Sky and The Baseballs. Rihanna performed the song at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, 2008 BRIT Awards and was the closing song of the Good Girl Gone Bad, Last Girl on Earth, and Loud Tours.

Background[link]

American songwriter-producer Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The-Dream" Nash and Kuk Harrell convened in January 2007 at the Atlanta-based Triangle Studios to create new material. In the studio, Stewart was "messing around with a walloping hi-hat sound", which he found in the free music software GarageBand, which is included in all Mac computers. With his attention caught by the sound, Nash asked Stewart what he was doing: "Oh, my Gosh, what is that beat?" When Stewart incorporated chords onto the hi-hat, "immediately the word popped into [Nash's] head"; he went to the vocal booth and started singing.^[1] Nash wrote the first two verses and the chorus over Stewart's skeleton track.^[2] They quickly wrote the lyrics, completing the first verse in 60 seconds. They continued into writing, adding the hook while "Tricky would put the next chord". In a matter of hours, they had recorded a demo of the track.^[1] The song was written with American pop superstar Britney Spears in mind, with whom Stewart had previously worked with in the 2003 song "Me Against the Music". Stewart and Nash thought that Spears, who had "her personal life ... a little out of control" at the time, needed a hit as musical comeback.^[1] Spears was working on her fifth album, Blackout, so they sent a copy of the demo to Spears' management. However, Spears did not hear of the song because her label rejected it, claiming they had enough songs for her to record.^[3]

Following the management's rejection of the track, Stewart and Nash dealt it out to other record labels. It was also given to UK R&B Singer/Song Writer Taio Cruz, who failed to convince his record company to release it.^[4] It was then opted Island Def Jam chairman Antonio "L.A." Reid, a friend of Stewart who established his first studio. By early February 2007, the demo was sent to Reid's right-hand woman, A&R executive Karen Kwak, who passed it along to Reid with a message confirming that they had found a song suited for Rihanna, who was working on her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad, at the time. Reid immediately sent the demo to Rihanna, who was also positive of it: "When the demo first started playing, I was like, This is interesting, this is weird. ... But the song kept getting better. I listened to it over and over. I said, 'I need this record. I want to record it tomorrow."^[1]

However, since it was the Grammy season of 2007, Stewart and Nash eyed American R&B singer Mary J. Blige for the demo.^[3] Upon calling them to set the record aside for Rihanna, Stewart had played it to an associate of Blige, subsequently promising the song to her. Having heard the move of the writers, Kwak began calling Stewart and his manager, Mark Stewart, incessantly. Meanwhile, considering Blige's nominations at the Grammys, Stewart and Nash agreed to wait for her response. However, Blige failed to hear the song in full due to her obligations to the Grammys at the time and "had to sign off on the record before her reps could accept it".^[3][5] Finally, Reid "stepped in, trading on his power-broker status and longstanding relationship with Stewart", and admits, "I made the producers an offer they couldn't refuse."^[1] By the time Reid had successfully persuaded Stewart's camp, they "just couldn't say no".^[3] On giving up the record to Reid's camp, Mark Stewart comments, "We knew Rihanna's album would be out in a few months. Mary wasn’t even in an album cycle yet. We made the sensible business decision."^[1]

Rihanna recorded the song, with vocal production by Thaddis "Kuk" Harrell, in a Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles. Initially, Stewart admitted he was still reluctant as to whether Rihanna was the right artist to record the song, but following the recording of the "ella, ella" catch phrase, he felt they were onto "something".^[3] Following Rihanna's recording, Def Jam CEO-rapper Jay-Z added his rap. However, Jay-Z rewrote his verse without the awareness of Stewart and Nash. Stewart could not understand it, but later realized it made "sense" instead of the first version. Stewart noted that "from a songwriter's standpoint, he just really made it more about the song, with the metaphors about umbrellas and about the weather versus what he had before".^[3]

"Umbrella" was released worldwide on March 29, 2007, debuting on Rihanna's Def Jam website.^[6][7] The song was released digitally in the United Kingdom on May 14, 2007, its physical release following two weeks later.^[8]

Composition[link]

"Umbrella" is a pop and R&B song.^[9][10][11] The song's musicscape is based on the hi-hat, synthesizers, and a distorted bassline. According to Entertainment Weekly magazine, the song's beat can be recreated through a slowed-down drum loop from the Apple music-software program GarageBand (Vintage Funk Kit 03).^[12] The song is written in the key of A#minor. The song's lyrics are written in the traditional verse-chorus form. They open with a rap verse, and the hook "ella, ella" follows every chorus. A bridge follows the second hook, and the song ends in a fadeout.

Critical reception[link]

"Umbrella" received acclaim from music critics. Andy Kellman of Allmusic commented: "'Umbrella' is [Rihanna's best song] to date, delivering mammoth of spacious drums, a towering backdrop during the chorus, and vocals that are somehow totally convincing without sounding all that impassioned — an ideal spot between trying too hard and boredom, like she might've been on her 20th take."^[13] Alex Macpherson of British newspaper The Guardian, "Umbrella" is "evidence" that Rihanna's "strict work ethic is paying off", adding that she "delivers [in the song] an impassioned declaration of us-against-the-world devotion".^[14] Tom Breihan of Pitchfork Media, though he complimented the production, dismissed Rihanna's voice which "takes on an unpleasant icepick edge when she tries to fill the space between the slow-tempo beats", adding that the song is "uncompelling as event-pop, particularly because of the disconnect between Rihanna's cold, clinical delivery and the comforting warmth of the lyrics".^[15] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine wrote "That the song is just plain good, regardless of genre, proves that Jay and Rihanna, who's already scored hits across several formats with a string of singles that couldn't be more different from each other, are dedicated to producing quality hits—however frivolous they may be."^[16] Quentin B. Huff of PopMatters.com said that "“Umbrella” is a monster, so much so that I’ll even confess to spending a portion of a rainy afternoon practicing the hook."^[17] Jonah Weiner of Blender magazine called the song the album’s highlight and stated that it "would be far less engrossing if it wasn’t for the way Rihanna disassembles its ungainly title into 11 hypnotic, tongue-flicking syllables".^[17] The New York Times's Kelefa Sanneh described the song as "a space-age hip-hop song".^[18]

The song has earned Rihanna several awards and nominations. In 2008, "Umbrella" earned Rihanna and Jay-Z a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year.^[19][20] "Umbrella" has also been recognized in various forms of accolades by the music press. The song is listed number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007, published by the music magazine Rolling Stone.^[21] Time magazine also listed the song number three on their Top 10 Songs of 2007.^[22] The song is listed number one on Entertainment Weekly magazine's list of the 10 Best Singles of 2007,^[12] while topping the magazine's poll for the best single of 2007.^[23] Blender magazine awarded the song Song of the Year in their Readers' Poll 2007.^[1] The music press has considered "Umbrella" as 2007's Song of the Summer,^[24][25][26] while The New York Times writer Kelefa Sanneh regarded it as "arguably 2007's signature slow jam".^[27] In 2009 Pitchfork ranked the song as the #25 song on list of The Top 500 Tracks of the decade.^[28] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "In 2007, Rihanna had us all singin' in the rain."^[29] On Rolling Stone's updated version of their The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, "Umbrella" was listed at number 412, making Rihanna one of the youngest living artists in that list.^[30] In October 2011, NME placed it at number 63 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".^[31]

Chart performance[link]

Rihanna performing "Umbrella" in Zurich at her Last Girl on Earth Tour, 2010.

The single was in the top ten & top five throughout the charts in the world. Prior to its physical release, "Umbrella" achieved the biggest debut in the six-year history of the iTunes, breaking a record previously held by Colombian singer Shakira and American hip hop artist Wyclef Jean’s "Hips Don't Lie".^[3] As a digital single, "Umbrella" topped the iTunes Store singles chart in more than 17 different countries around the world.^[1] "Umbrella" was a commercial and chart success in the United States. On Billboard magazine's issue dated June 9, 2007, "Umbrella" ascended from number 42 to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, based on the single's first-week digital sales of over 277,000 units. The single became one of the highest digital debut in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking downloads in 2003.^[32] "Umbrella" is Rihanna's second number-one single after "SOS",^[32] which was also noted for its huge leap on the Hot 100 to the top spot in 2006 based on digital sales alone.^[33] Significantly sustained by the strong airplay of the single^[34][35] and preventing American rap group Shop Boyz' "Party Like a Rockstar" to advance on the chart, "Umbrella" spent seven consecutive weeks at the top of the Hot 100,^[36] until it was replaced by American pop rock band Plain White T's' "Hey There Delilah".^[37] On the 2007 Billboard year end chart, "Umbrella" was ranked at number two; it was ranked only behind Beyoncé's hit single "Irreplaceable".^[38] The song debuted at number one in Canada, becoming the first song to top the recently launched Canadian Hot 100, a singles chart in Canada issued by Billboard magazine, similar to that of the Billboard Hot 100.^[39] The song has sold 4 million paid digital downloads in the United States, according to Nielsen Soundscan.^[40]

The single performed, most notably, in the United Kingdom, breaking a record on the UK Singles Chart.^[41] The song debuted at number one on the chart based on digital sales alone,^[42] becoming Rihanna's first chart-topper in the country.^[43] During the single's fourth week on the chart, it earned Rihanna the accolade in the United Kingdom when both the single and album topped the UK Singles Chart and UK Albums Chart.^[44] Having reached nine straight weeks at number one on the chart, it broke the record of American group Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" as the longest of the decade.^[45] "Umbrella" eventually reached a total of ten weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the country's longest-running number-one single of the 21st century.^[46] Rihanna has become the seventh artist in the history of the UK Singles Chart to top the chart for ten straight weeks.^[47] By the end of 2008, "Umbrella" had sold more than 600,000 units, making it her biggest-selling single to date and the second biggest-selling single of 2007 in the United Kingdom, only behind Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love".^[48] It has since been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry on December 12, 2008.^[49] In total, "Umbrella" has amassed 51 weeks on the official UK Top 75, making it the joint 20th longest runner of all time, and 71 on the Top 100, in which it has appeared in three consecutive years. In 2007 it peaked at #1, in 2008 at #18 and 2009 at #99.^[50] It currently stands as the eighth best selling song by a female artist in the UK in the 21st century, and also the eighth best selling collaboration following the same criteria.^[51]

As well as topping the charts in the United Kingdom, "Umbrella" had a similar success throughout Europe, reaching number one in Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, Austria, Norway, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Germany and specially in Spain, where the song achieved eight times platinum selling 160,000 units,^[52] and topped the charts for five consecutive weeks. In Australia, "Umbrella" entered the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number one and spent six consecutive weeks at the top. "Umbrella" has been certified platinum in 2007 by the Australian Recording Industry Association^[53] for over 70,000 units shipment of the single, and ended as Australia's third best-performing single in 2007.^[54] The single peaked at number one in the New Zealand charts and was the country's best-performing single in 2007.^[55] In total, "Umbrella" reached number one on 18 of its 29 charts released and it reached top 10 on every chart at that matter.

Worldwide the song has sold more than 6.6 million copies, with which became one of the best selling singles of all the time.^[56]

Music video[link]

While working on the album, ideas began to circulate concerning Rihanna's image, extending into her music videos. She asked American music video director Chris Applebaum to send her "something" to work on. Def Jam representatives were expecting Applebaum of the treatment.^[57] In response, Applebaum hurriedly made a treatment for the video, one of his first ideas being the silver body paint that Rihanna is seen in. Applebaum was doubtful whether Rihanna would embrace the idea, but her "positive response" following a letter the director sent to the artist ensured its approval. Makeup artist Pamela Neal mixed a silver paint that would give Rihanna such a look. During the session, the paint was re-applied between takes to ensure she was completely covered. The set was closed to Rihanna, Applebaum and a camera assistant.^[57] Rihanna also contributed her own ideas towards the video shoot, suggesting to Applebaum that she dance en pointe, an idea which he accepted.^[57]

The music video premiered on April 26, 2007 at her website. Downloads were made available for those in the U.S. only from the website for a limited time. The video was officially released on the iTunes Store on May 11, 2007, peaking at number one for a period of eight weeks. On May 1, 2007, "Umbrella" debuted on MTV’s Total Request Live at number 10, before reaching number one on May 9 where it remained for fifteen days, making it the longest running number one of 2007. The video was well-played in MTV during the second half of 2007; it has reached over 8,000 plays, receiving a platinum recognition at the MTV Platinum and Gold Video Awards.^[58] Such was the success of the promotional video that it received five nominations at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, including "Female Artist of the Year", "Video of the Year" and "Monster Single of the Year", going on to win the latter two.^[59]

Covers and remixes[link]

"Umbrella" has been covered by several notable performers from a variety of musical genres:

Then-upcoming singer Marié Digby recorded an acoustic version of "Umbrella" which was released August 3, 2007 as the debut single from her Hollywood Records Start Here EP and included as the closing track on Digby's debut album Unfold.^[62] Scottish rock group Biffy Clyro also released an acoustic version of the song,^[63] just like the Italian singer Neja has done in her cover – album Acousticlub, while Italian band Vanilla Sky went in the opposite direction and released a punk cover of the song^[64] while Norwegian band Bare Egil Band have made a doom metal version of the song.^[65] For her debut album a.K.a. Cassandra, Filipina singer and actress KC Concepcion covered the song in English, while singer Miss Ganda recorded a version in Filipino entitled "Payong" (means umbrella).^[66]

Pop-punk outfit All Time Low covered the song for the Fearless Records compilation album Punk Goes Crunk,^[67] and Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers produced their own version of "Umbrella", which was originally recorded for the album NME Awards 2008.^[68] Produced in celebration of the Shockwaves NME Awards 2008 and Big Gig, that album was given free with a special souvenir box set of the magazine NME on February 27. Two additional versions (acoustic and Grand Slam mix) were later made available on iTunes, and the trio now comprise an Umbrella EP; a video for the cover is available on the band's official website.^[69] British pop rock band McFly performed their own version of "Umbrella" during their "Greatest Hits So Far Tour" in 2007,^[70] and Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom performed their 2008 cover live at Wacken Open Air.^[71] Country-pop singer-songwriter Taylor Swift recorded a live version of the song, which was later included in an iTunes Store exclusive EP titled Live from SoHo – EP (2008).^[72] Her version of the song peaked at number seventy-nine on Billboard Pop 100.^[73]

There have also been notable mixed versions of the song. American rapper Lil Mama recorded a version of "Umbrella" that replaced Jay-Z's opening rap verse. An article by Blender magazine, who dismissed Jay-Z's version, said "Lil Mama actually seems to understand the song's metaphorical themes of protection and loyalty".^[74] American punk band Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker remixed the song, adding to the track "quicksilver snare flourishes and... real-life guitars".^[75] Singer Chris Brown created an answer song titled "Cinderella", replacing some of the verses and part of the chorus of "Umbrella" with his own lyrics. This version is the official remix. This version has been performed as a duet between Brown and Rihanna when he joined Rihanna on a late-2008 tour in the Asia-Pacific region.^[76] R&B/hip-hop singer The-Dream, who wrote "Umbrella", recorded the demo with a slightly different intro and instrumental. Recently^[when?], Korean girl group 2NE1 covered this song on Music Bank. The song's drum beat is sampled in "Symphonies" by Dan Black. An episode of Glee featured this song performed by Gwyneth Paltrow in a mash-up with "Singin' in the Rain." The song has also been covered by Tiffany, an American-Korean singer from the popular girl group Girls' Generation in their first Asia Tour. In 2009, Lady Gaga incorporated the "Eh, Eh" hook for her song "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)".^[77]

In 2011, Cuban timba band Combinacion de la Habana did a song Asi soy yo which uses the same melody as Umbrella...

Appearances in other media[link]

• Criminal Minds – Episode: "3rd Life"
• Ghost Whisperer - Episode: "Weight of What Was"
• Cold Case – Episode: "The Road"
• Glee – Episode: "The Substitute" (mash-up with the song "Singin' in the Rain")
• The Office - Episode: "Weight Loss". The character Andy Bernard sings the song to the character, Angela, except he sings, "Under my Angerella".

Impact[link]

"Rihanna Curse"[link]

The song's reign at number one in the United Kingdom occurred as the region was hit by extreme rainfall and flooding, which led The Sun to humorously suggest the two events were related, with the media referring to it as the "Rihanna Curse." The UK-based publication also highlighted the date of the single's video shot which was Friday the 13th (April 13, 2007), adding further coincidence of the curse.^[78] Before the single's release on May 14, the temperature in London, UK was relatively high, reaching 20 °C. However, just a day after the release, "severe weather warnings hit the headlines".^[78] An article in The Sun it urged readers to join the campaign to knock the song off the chart's top spot, suggesting to readers several other songs to download instead, all of which shared the theme of sunshine or summer.^[78]

A similar situation occurred in New Zealand, where the song hit number one in the early winter of 2007 as the country was experiencing some of the worst storms in its history.^[79] During the weather conditions, Taranaki, Tauranga, and Auckland had experienced tornadoes and flooding in the Far North of the country. Once the single was replaced on the top spot, weather condition almost in the entire New Zealand pacified, although Hawke's Bay was still stormy.^[79]

The same happened in Romania where "Umbrella" hit the stations in the nation during the summer. That summer was in its first half the hottest and driest period of time in Romania since 1946.^[80] As the song reached the top ten and then its number-one peak, the country experienced the worst storms and most pouring rains in its history.^[81] As the song was losing positions in the charts, the storm ended and the temperatures lowered step-by-step.^[80]

Pop culture and gaming[link]

With the record-breaking success of the single and the reported coincidence with the weather, Def Jam's marketing team collaborated with British umbrella manufacturer Totes. The company produced five types of Rihanna umbrellas, of which was a double-colored satin umbrella that Rihanna debuted in public during her performance of the song at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards.^[82] Although manufactured by a UK-based company, the collection was made available only to US residents by online through the company's website.^[83]

In November 2007 MADtv's Nicole Parker and Keegan-Michael Key, who were depicting U.S. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama respectively, performed a parody of "Umbrella".^[84]

"Umbrella" has been featured in the karaoke video games SingStar Pop Volume 2 and Lips, both accompanied by the music video.^[85] A cover of the song is also featured in Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 as a playable track.^[86]

Live performances[link]

Rihanna performing "Umbrella" during her The Loud Tour

"Umbrella" was performed by Rihanna during the 2007 MTV Movie Awards on June 3, 2007.^[87] In the United Kingdom, she performed the song on GMTV and on The Brit Awards in 2008. She also performed "Umbrella " during her AOL sessions.^[88] In France, she performed it on Star Academy.^[89] "Umbrella" was added to the setlist of her first headlining Good Girl Gone Bad Tour where it was performed as the final song for the Encore. It was also included as the closing act of Last Girl on Earth Tour and the current The Loud Tour.

Awards[link]

Formats and track listings[link]

	Book: Good Girl Gone Bad
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

Charts and certifications[link]

Yearly charts[link]

2007[link]

Vanilla Sky cover[link]

"Umbrella" was covered by the Italian band Vanilla Sky in 2007. Though there is only one version of the song, it was released three times: first on the band's MySpace,^[157] then as a single, and finally as a bonus track from Changes Edizione Speciale.

Music video[link]

The music video is a parody of the original "Umbrella" video.^[158]

Personnel[link]

• Vincenzo "Vinx" Cristi – Vocals, guitar
• Brian Autore – Vocals, guitar
• Francesco "Cisco" Sarsano – Bass
• Luca Alessandrelli – drums

The Baseballs cover[link]

"Umbrella" was covered by the rockabilly coverband, The Baseballs, in 2009. It was certified Platinum in Finland by Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.^[159]

Track listings[link]

Release history[link]

Chart performance[link]

Year-end charts[link]

References[link]