Rihanna comforts her lover by telling him she will be there for him, in good times and bad. The umbrella is a metaphor for her support.

“Umbrella” stayed on top of the UK Singles Chart for 10 consecutive weeks, longer than any other single that decade. The single remained at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks. During the tracking week ending February 25, 2023, the song re-entered the Hot 100 at #37.

The accompanying music video, directed by Chris Applebaum, was released on May 11, 2007.

In 2008, “Umbrella” won a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, and was nominated for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It won two MTV Music Video awards in 2007, but was nominated for three. This song is number 412 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Mary J. Blige revealed in an interview that this song was actually written by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart for her:

They did the song for me. And it was during the Grammy time and I was really, really busy, and I heard it, and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s a smash. I love this song.’ And it was like, ‘It’s yours.’ So in the midst of it being mine, they were probably telling [Rihanna] it was hers. She’s such a beautiful lady, and I love her to death. I was so glad that she caught it and knocked it out of the park, and it’s still one of my favorite songs to date.

When Chris Brown and Rihanna were still dating, he recorded his own version of this song. He changed the chorus to “You can be my Cinderella.”