THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

566-Rihanna-Where Have You Been.

2012-Number 6 single.

Best Bit-At 1.16. A good idea for a song can emerge from the most unlikely of places.

Robyn Rihanna Fenty (see also best songs 858) was born on February 20th, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados, with record sales in excess of 250 million she is the second best selling female artist of all time, behind her childhood idol, and inspiration Madonna (see also best songs 774 and 587.) Away from music Rihanna is recognised for her humanitarian involvement, entrepreneurship, and fashion industry influence. She established the ‘Clara Lionel Foundation’ in 2012, which is a nonprofit organisation, that funds groundbreaking education, and emergency preparedness and response programs around the world. In 2017 she founded the cosmetics brand ‘Fenty Beauty,’ and fashion house ‘Fenty,’ working with the French multinational holding and conglomerate ‘LVMH,’ becoming the first black woman to lead a luxury brand for ‘LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.’ Rihanna has two children born in 2022, and 2023 with her partner, the American rapper ASAP Rocky.

The discography of Rihanna includes eight studio Albums released between 2005-2016, and 70 singles as either the lead artist, (53) or featured artist, (17) there are also seven official box sets available. In America on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, as the lead artist, 42 of her tracks have reached the top 40, with seven of them making the Number 1 spot, with ‘Where Have You Been,’ reaching Number 5, while as a featured artist she has had 13 top 40 hits, with three of those songs making Number 1. In the UK, Rihanna has had 37 top 40 hits as the lead artist, with six of those tracks reaching Number 1, and a further 13 as the featured artist, of which three of those songs have made the Number 1 spot.

‘Where Have You Been’ was the fifth of six singles released from ‘Talk That Talk,’ the sixth studio Album from Rihanna from November 2011. The writing of the song is credited to Ester Dean, (see also best songs 858) Dr Luke, (see also best songs 953-874 and 824) Calvin Harris, (see also best songs 760 and 652) Henry Walter, and Geoff Mack, (1922-2017) with the production credited to Dr Luke, Henry Walter, Calvin Harris, and Kuk Harrell. ‘Where Have You Been’ is loosely based around the 1959 song ‘I’ve Been Everywhere,’ written by Geoff Mack, who was born Albert Geoffrey McElhinney, on December 20th, 1922, in Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia, he died on July 21st, 2017, at the age of 94. Geoff Mack was one of Australia’s most celebrated musicians, having been inducted into the ‘Songwriters Hall of Fame,’ in Nashville in 1963. In 2005 he was awarded the ‘Medal of the Order of Australia,’ for his service to Country Music, and his support of community and senior citizens’ groups, and in 2008 he was inducted in to the ‘Australian Country Music Roll of Renown.’

In Geoff Mack’s original version called ‘I’ve Been Everywhere,’ he lists some of the places he has visited, whereas in Rihanna’s version, she states that she has been everywhere in search of a sexual partner, who can please her all night long. The Geoff Mack song has been covered many times, notably by the Australian singer ‘Lucky Starr,’ who reached Number 1 on the Australian ‘Sydney’ chart in 1962, and in the same year by the Canadian singer Hank Snow, (1914-1999) who took his re-written ‘American friendly’ lyrics to Number 1 on the ‘Billboard Country Music’ chart. ‘I’ve Been Everywhere’ is said to have been recorded by at least 130 artists down the years, with another notable version being by Johnny Cash, (1932-2003) who covered the song for his 1996 Album ‘Unchained.’

‘Where Have You Been’ is one of Rihanna’s best selling singles, with worldwide sales being around seven million copies to date. Like many ‘Dance Music’ tracks there are several official remixes of the song available, including the ‘Hardwell Club Mix,’ the ‘Vice Club Mix,,’ and the ‘Papercha$er remix,’ which all accompanied the single on it’s initial release.

I’ve been everywhere, man, looking for someone, someone who can please me, love me all night long. I’ve been everywhere, man, looking for you, babe, looking for you, babe, searching for you, babe. Where have you been?’