Claim: Umbrella is a recording.

`` Umbrella '' is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna from her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad -LRB- 2007 -RRB- . It features American rapper Jay Z , who co-wrote the song with its producers Tricky Stewart and Kuk Harrell , with additional writing from The-Dream . The song was originally written with Britney Spears in mind , but her label rejected it . `` Umbrella '' is a pop and R&B song with hip-hop and rock touches referring to a romantic and platonic relationship and the strength of that relationship .   Entertainment Weekly ranked the song number one on the 10 Best Singles of 2007 , while Rolling Stone and Time listed the song at number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007 . The song has earned Rihanna several awards and nominations . In 2007 , the song won two awards at the MTV Video Music Awards , when it was nominated for four . At the 2008 Grammy Awards , `` Umbrella '' also earned Rihanna and Jay Z a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration in addition to receiving nominations for Record of the Year and Song of the Year . The song is also listed on Rolling Stones The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time at 412 .   The song serves as the lead single to the album , and was released worldwide on March 29 , 2007 through Def Jam Recordings . `` Umbrella '' was a commercial success , topping the charts in Australia , Canada , Germany , Spain , the Republic of Ireland , Sweden , Switzerland , the United Kingdom , and the United States . In the United Kingdom , where the song 's chart performance generated controversy when the country was experiencing excessive flooding and large amounts of rain at the time , it was one of the most played songs on radio in the 2000s -LRB- decade -RRB- . It managed to stay at number one on the UK Singles Chart for 10 consecutive weeks , the longest run at number one for any single of that decade , and is also one of the few songs to top the chart for at least 10 weeks . The single was one of the highest digital debuts in the United States and remained at the top of the US Billboard Hot 100 for seven consecutive weeks .   The single 's accompanying music video was directed by Chris Applebaum and features , among all , Rihanna 's nude body covered in silver paint . The video earned Rihanna a Video of the Year at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards and Most Watched Video on MuchMusic.com at MuchMusic Video Awards . Along with countless amateurs , `` Umbrella '' has been covered by several notable performers from a variety of musical genres , including All Time Low , the Baseballs , Biffy Clyro , Manic Street Preachers , McFly , Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park , OneRepublic , Taylor Swift , and Vanilla Sky . Rihanna performed the song at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards , 2008 BRIT Awards and was the closing song of the `` Good Girl Gone Bad Tour '' -LRB- 2008 -RRB- , the `` Last Girl on Earth '' -LRB- 2010 -RRB- , and the `` Loud Tour '' -LRB- 2011 -RRB- . It was included in the `` Diamonds World Tour '' -LRB- 2013 -RRB- , and the `` Anti World Tour '' -LRB- 2016 -RRB- .