RiRi brings a female act back to the region after a 12-week drought.
As DJ Khaled's "Wild Thoughts," featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller, launches at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (dated July 8), a female artist ranks in the top five after a 12-week break. Rihanna is the first woman to crash the top five since Taylor Swift, whose "I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)," with Zayn, placed at No. 3 (after peaking at No. 2) on the chart dated April 8.
How long had it previously been since no women ranked in the Hot 100's top five for at least 12 consecutive weeks?
First, this year's 12-week break marks the longest gap of no solo women in the top five in nearly 35 years: From the charts dated June 12 through Sept. 11, 1982, no female soloists ranked in the bracket for 14 straight weeks. Still, two hits in that span belonged to groups with women singing lead: The Human League's No. 1 "Don't You Want Me" and Fleetwood Mac's No. 4-peaking "Hold Me."