Rihanna Puts End to Longest Male-Dominated Billboard Streak in 45 Years

"Wild Thoughts" became the first song with female vocals to crack the Top Five of the Hot 100 in the past 12 weeks.

Singer Rihanna presents the 'Young Fashion Designer' : LVMH Prize
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Singer Rihanna presents the 'Young Fashion Designer' : LVMH Prize

Singer Rihanna presents the 'Young Fashion Designer' : LVMH Prize

For the first time in 12 weeks, a female artist has cracked the coveted top five spot of the Hot 100. This marks the end of the longest women-less drought that the top five has experienced since 1972. The song that ended the dry spell was DJ Khaled's "Wild Thoughts," which features both Rihanna and Bryson Tiller, and debuted at No. 4 this past week. The song became the first hit to showcase some female vocals since Taylor Swift and Zayn's "I Don't Wanna Live Forever," appeared on the list at No. 3 nearly three months ago.

As recently as April, no women were in the list's Top 10—the first time that's happened since 1984. Additionally, "Wild Thoughts" becomes only the seventh track this year with a woman that busted into the Top 5. According to Billboard, only 30 percent of this year's Top 5 hits have had ladies on them. That's down from 35 percent in 2016, and from a slightly larger margin of 39 percent in 2017.

As for Rihanna specifically, "Wild Thoughts" marks the 31st song of hers to crack the Top 10, and is her second Top Five hit of 2017, as she previously made it into that same exclusive club with "Love On The Brain" earlier in the year.

 

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