Recommendations of the Editorial team
Despite not releasing a new album in a decade, Rihanna just became the first woman in music industry history to surpass 200 million RIAA singles certifications. She is in third place in the all-time best list – behind Drake and Morgan Wallen.
Your total is now 200.5 million units. Drake tops the list with 277.5 million, followed by Wallen with 215 million.
In the pre-digital era, the RIAA – the industry body that awards Gold, Platinum and Diamond awards for sales and streams – simply counted the number of physical singles shipped to retailers. Paid downloads were then recorded when iTunes was started. In today’s streaming age, 150 on-demand streams are considered the equivalent of a single digital music track purchased. That explains why the list is topped by superstars of the streaming era – Drake, Wallen, Rihanna, Kanye West, Beyoncé and Luke Combs – while legends of earlier eras like Queen and Michael Jackson rank far behind.
Catalog carries them upstairs
But everyone at the top are active artists. Rihanna hasn’t released an album or toured since 2016, aside from the 2023 Super Bowl halftime show and occasional private appearances. She also contributed “Lift Me Up” to the 2022 film “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Friends of Mine” to the 2025 film “Smurfs”. She broke the 200 million singles certification mark solely thanks to the longevity of her catalog. Year after year, classics like “Umbrella,” “Only Girl (In the World),” “Don’t Stop the Music” and “We Found Love” rack up astronomical numbers.
Rihanna has been carefully working on her ninth album for several years. She initially announced to fans that it would be “reggae-inspired” – she later backed away from this statement. “There’s no genre now,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in 2025. “That’s why I waited. Every time I just thought, ‘No, that’s not me. It’s not right. It doesn’t fit with my development. It doesn’t fit with my evolution. I can’t do that. I can’t stand by that. I can’t perform that on tour for a year.'”
When the album finally arrives, it could put them in a position to overtake Drake and Wallen – and have more singles certifications than anyone else in music history.
