The surprising secret hidden in one of Rihanna’s biggest hits for 18 years-Robert Oliver-Entertainment – Metro

Rihanna’s biggest hit back in 2006 had a few tributes buried in the lyrics… (Picture: Rob Verhorst/Redferns)

By 2026, Rihanna will have been out of the pop game for as long as she was in it – but new secrets are still emerging from her old hit singles.

The Umbrella hitmaker, 36, was born in Barbados and launched her pop career in the summer of 2005 with her debut album Music of the Sun going Gold.

From there, she dominated the charts for another decade, scoring nine UK number ones and spending over 1,000 weeks inside the official top 100.

But despite her storied career and semi-retirement from making new music, which began in 2016, new secrets are still coming to us from songs recorded years ago.

Chiefly, her smash hit SOS. Known for its sample of Soft Cell’s Tainted Love, SOS hit number one in America and only just missed out at number two in 2006.

For such a popular song, you’d think everyone would have it completely figured out by now, but one of the men behind SOS has caught us all off guard.

Evan Bogart, 46, who wrote the lyrics, has revealed that several little tributes to classic pop hits from the 1980s were secretly buried throughout the song.

The whole second verse of that song is 1980s song titles strung together as sentences,’ he told the Behind the Wall podcast. ‘I thought it would be super clever.’

He explained to host Daniel Wall that SOS’ second verse started with the line ‘Take on me, ah-ha’ – a reference to the 1985 song recorded by the Norwegian synth-pop group.

Evan Bogart co-wrote the song and buried references in the lyrics (Picture: Vincent Sandoval/WireImage)

Rihanna’s SOS topped the charts in America 18 years ago (Picture: KMazur/WireImage)

Rihanna then sings ‘I could just die up in your arms tonight,’ which is a lyrical tribute to Cutting Crew’s classic song that topped the charts in America.

The song continues with line ‘I melt with you’ – which Evan said was a tribute to the Modern English track from 1982 with the same name – while Head Over Heels by Tears for Fears and Kim Wilde’s You Keep Me Hangin’ On are also given a nod.

A certain Michael Jackson song from 1987 is then referenced to complete the following lyric: ‘You got me head over heels / Boy, you keep me hanging on, the way you make me feel.’

When podcast host Daniel admitted he couldn’t believe his ears, saying ‘That’s incredible, I had no idea’, Evan immediately reassured Daniel that he wasn’t alone. ‘No one [knows].’

SOS was one of Rihanna’s biggest early hits (Picture: Theo Wargo/WireImage)

Evan made his name writing R&B pop hits during the 2000s, working with Rihanna, as well as other stellar names including Beyoncé, Pussycat Dolls, Sean Kingston, Jason Derulo, Demi Lovato, Lizzo, Jennifer Lopez, Adam Lambert, and more.

Across his career, Evan won a Grammy in 2010 for Beyoncé’s Halo (co-written with OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder), two Billboard awards, an MTV Award, and several Pop Awards.

As for Rihanna, it was reported last month that she might well be making a ‘secret’ return to the studio after almost a decade since her last album, Anti.

She and her long-time partner, A$AP Rocky, have apparently been attending recording sessions at the Red Bus Recording Studio in London over the last few months.

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