Rihanna dominates UK chart
Story by Jack Foley
RIHANNA has scored a UK chart double by hitting the top spot of both the singles and album chart.
The 19-year-old’s third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, entered the chart at No.1, while her single Umbrella – featuring guest vocals from Jay-Z – hung on to the top spot in the singles chart for a fourth consecutive week.
Rihanna is a Bajan singer who fuses pop, R&B, reggae and dancehall into catchy, chart-friendly hits. Her breakthrough came with Pon de Replay.
Elsewhere in the album charts, Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro entered at No.2 with their acclaimed fourth album, Puzzle, one place ahead of hotly-tipped newcomers The Twang, with Love It When I Feel Like This.
And Sir Paul McCartney’s Memory Almost Full – a flagship release for Starbucks Coffee Company – entered at number five following a massive publicity campaign that saw the former Beatle playing a gig for just 1,000 people at London’s Electric Ballroom last week.
The highest new entry in the singles chart, meanwhile, was the White Stripes’ comeback release Icky Thump, which hit 13th through digital sales. It’s physically released into record stores today (Monday).