2025 will mark the 18-year anniversary of Rihanna's breakout hit single, "Umbrella." Rihanna was a name that was steadily on the rise by 2007, finding modest early success with "SOS" and "Unfaithful." Soon enough, on March 29, Rihanna's superstardom became undeniable upon Def Jam's release of "Umbrella," having her credibility boosted by a feature from Jay-Z and production/writing credits from The-Dream, Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, and Kuk Harrell.

As fate would have it, "Umbrella" would fall into Rihanna's lap, maintaining an enduring legacy. Rihanna has since gone on to produce a massive array of huge hits, making her one of music's most-streamed artists, but "Umbrella" has stuck with listeners for well over a decade - nearly two, now. This is proven by the streaming numbers behind "Umbrella" and the rest of Rihanna's iconic discography.

Umbrella Is Rihanna's Biggest Single On Spotify As A Solo Artist

Only Her Calvin Harris Collaborations Are Bigger

According to Kworb, "Umbrella" is Rihanna's highest-streamed solo credit, with only her Calvin Harris collaborations "We Found Love" and "This is What You Came For" charting higher. Trailing close behind is her collaboration with Eminem, "Love The Way You Lie," with her next biggest solo song being "Love On The Brain" from 2016's ANTI. Even then, "Umbrella" is still bigger by nearly 100,000 streams, certainly proving its worth.

As fate would have it, "Umbrella" would fall into Rihanna's lap, maintaining an enduring legacy. However, the monumental critical and chart-topping success that came from "Umbrella," contributing to Rihanna's later achievements, would not have been possible had two prolific artists not turned down the song previously. Before Rihanna hopped on the song, "Umbrella" was originally written for Britney Spears, and when Spears wasn't available, the song nearly went to Mary J. Blige.

Rihanna Only Recorded Umbrella Because Of 2 Rejections

Why Britney Spears Turned Down Umbrella

When Tricky Stewart, Kuk Harrell, and The-Dream all collaborated on what would become Rihanna's breakout blockbuster, they wrote the song with Britney Spears in mind as their lead singer. 2007 was a time when Britney Spears was working on her fifth album, Blackout, and was working on material for the project. Tricky, Spears' "Me Against the World" producer, particularly wanted to produce another hit record for Spears, sympathetic to the public stress and scrutiny she was experiencing at the time, as documented in the Framing Britney Spears documentary.

Once the song was done, a demo by rapper/singer Taio Cruz was created and sent to her record label at the time, Jive Records. Unfortunately for Ms. Spears, her management team turned it away under the impression that Spears had enough songs planned for her album and didn't need another single. Cruz, speaking about his experience as a part of Tricky Stewart's Redzone production team at the time, added to Telegraph that, "they sent it back saying it doesn't work for her." At least it all worked out, as after "Umbrella," Spears and Rihanna worked together on "S&M."

Why Mary J. Blige Turned Down Umbrella

When Britney Spears was out of the race for "Umbrella," this iconic singer was next in line. The demo was sent to Mary J. Blige, although it came with awkward timing, as Mary J. Blige didn't have the time to listen to the demo, let alone record a potential song. The R&B singer turned Power actress would elaborate on an episode of Bravo TV's Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, itting, "It was during Grammy time for me, it was a big Grammy time."

Blige would continue, "I was nominated for eight Grammys, and I was trying to get myself together for that. And during that time, that’s when ‘Umbrella’ came to me, and I couldn’t do anything with it because I was so busy with my own life, and I was like, 'you know what? It doesn't even sound like me anyway.'" One person who did have time to listen to a demo sent to her through Def Jam's L.A. Reid and eventually recorded "Umbrella" was Rihanna, and the rest was history.