Stay (Rihanna song)

Stay
Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko
publication	January 7, 2013
length	4:01
Genre (s)	Pop , R&B
Author (s)	Mikky Ekko , Justin Parker, Elof Loelv
Label	Def Jam
album	Unapologetic

Stay ( dt. "Stay") is a song by Barbadian singer Rihanna in collaboration with the American singer Mikky Ekko . It is the second single after Diamonds from their seventh studio album Unapologetic and was released on January 7, 2013. The song was nominated in the Best Pop Duo / Group Performance category at the 2014 Grammy Awards .

background

Rihanna began work on her seventh studio album in March 2012. During the production of the album, some musicians and music producers for individual songs were recruited by Rihanna's management, including the American singer Mikky Ekko and the music producer Justin Parker. According to Ekko, the effort to produce the album was enormous: “Your pace is insane. They booked the music studio we worked in for three months in a cycle. I had never seen anything like it before. ” Stay was written and produced by Parker, Ekko and Elof Loelv. Originally, after Ekko wrote it, he didn't like the song. Only the other employees convinced him to listen to Stay again, which gradually made him like the song.

Shortly after Rihanna's management took over the song, Ekko and Rihanna met in Los Angeles , where Rihanna informed him that she was cutting the vocals. The vocals were recorded at Nightbird Studios and Westlake Recording Studios in Los Angeles. The mixing took place in the Ninja Club Studios in Atlanta instead. Stay was first released in the UK on January 7, 2013. In the United States it was released on January 29, 2014. The CD single was released on February 15, 2013 in Germany.

Musical and content

Stay is a pop - and R & B - ballad whose instrumentation of piano and guitar there. The song, composed in four-four time and in A minor , has a tempo of 112 beats per minute . The progression consists of C-Dm-Am-Am7, Rihanna's vocal range extends from A3 to E5. Lyrically, Stay treats the "failure to resist true love". In the chorus, the lyric self describes how much she loves and needs the other person and cannot live without him.

"Not really sure how to feel about it Something in the way you move Makes me feel like I can't live without you And it takes me all the way I want you to stay." - Refrain, original excerpt

"Not really sure what to feel about it. Something in the way you move Makes me feel like I can't live without you And it throws me off track. I want you to stay." - Refrain, German translation

Reviews

Stay received both positive and negative reviews. For Stephan Müller from Plattentests.de the song is “not a great art on the piano”, but “tender and vulnerable”. Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan called the song a "plea at the piano". The New Musical Express called Stay a "great ballad" and considers the song to be the highlight of Rihanna's album Unapologetic . Lewis Corner of Digital Spy praises Rihanna's voice in the song: “She ponders with a passionate voice over a simple, but highly effective, piano riff . The result copied some of the most successful ballad singers of 2012, such as Emeli Sandé and Lana Del Rey, ”said the critic.

David Hilzendegen from Laut.de , on the other hand, considers Stay to be a "not very exciting duet". Jon Caramanica of the New York Times also criticized the song as a "boring, piano-driven duet".

Music video

The music video for Stay was directed by Sophie Muller and was released on February 11, 2013. In the video, Rihanna is sitting naked in a bathtub filled with water. Ekko also performs his parts in a bathroom by a tub and in front of a mirror. To date, the video has over 858 million views on YouTube (as of January 2020).

Commercial win

Stay achieved high chart positions worldwide. After Rihanna performed the song at the 2013 Grammy Awards , it entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 57 on February 23, 2013 . In the second week of the chart, the song rose from number 57 to number 3 and was able to stay in the top 10 for 16 weeks. For Rihanna, this was the 24th top 10 success in the United States . Stay was awarded six times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for over 6 million units sold in the United States. In the British single charts , the song entered the 6th place on December 22, 2012. In the second week, the song reached number 4, the highest position in these charts, which could be reached three more times. In total, Stay spent 10 weeks in the top 10 of the UK charts. In October 2013 and January 2014 the song returned to the single charts for a week. It was Rihanna's 23rd top 10 win in the UK . The song was awarded a platinum record by the British Phonographic Industry .

Stay debuted in the German single charts on January 18, 2013 at number 71. In the seventh week of the chart, the song reached its highest position at number two. The song stayed in the top 10 in Germany for seven weeks, and for Rihanna it was the 18th top 10 success in this country. The single reached the top position in the German airplay charts for three weeks . For over 150,000 copies sold, Rihanna received a gold record for Stay from the Federal Association of the Music Industry . The song also reached the top 10 in the Ö3 Austria Top 40 at number 5, as well as in the Swiss charts , where it just missed a number one hit with number 2. The song achieved this in the Danish music charts . On November 9, 2012 Stay reached the top position . The song achieved further top 10 placements in Australia (4th place), Belgium (3rd place in Flanders, 2nd place in Wallonia), France (2nd place), New Zealand (4th place), the Netherlands (2nd place), Norway (2nd place) ) and Spain (5th place).

At the Grammy Awards in 2014 was Stay in the category Best Pop Duo / Group Performance nominated, but the song had to get lucky to admit defeat. For the MTV Video Music Awards 2013 , the song received a nomination in the category Best Female Video , but could not win the award. At the 2013 Teen Choice Awards , Stay was nominated in the Choice Music: Break-Up Song category. The song won an award in the Song of the Year category at the IHeartRadio Music Awards 2014.

Chart placements

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	2 (38 weeks)	38
Austria (Ö3)	5 (22 weeks)	22nd
Switzerland (IFPI)	2 (38 weeks)	38
United Kingdom (OCC)	4th (31 weeks)	31
United States (Billboard)	3 (32 weeks)	32

Awards for music sales

Stay has been awarded 2 × gold and 21 × platinum worldwide. The single was sold over 8.7 million times.

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
Australia (ARIA)	5 × platinum	350,000
Belgium (BEA)	platinum	30,000
Denmark (IFPI)	platinum	30,000
Germany (BVMI)	3 × gold	450,000
Italy (FIMI)	2 × platinum	100,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)	2 × platinum	30,000
Spain (Promusicae)	gold	20,000
United States (RIAA)	7 × platinum	7,000,000
United Kingdom (BPI)	2 × platinum	695,000
All in all	2 × gold 21 × platinum	8,705,000

Main article: Rihanna / Music Sales Awards

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Lewis Corner: Rihanna confirms new single 'Stay' - listen. In: Digital Spy . November 30, 2012, accessed February 9, 2017 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Michael Baggs: Mikky Ekko reveals story behind Rihanna duet 'Stay'. In: Gigwise.com. January 7, 2013, accessed February 9, 2017 . 
3. ↑ Joanne Dorken: Mikky Ekko Hated Rihanna Song 'Stay'. In: MTV . July 13, 2013, archived from the original on August 20, 2013 ; accessed on February 9, 2017 (English). 
4. ↑ Future Releases. Archived from the original on January 26, 2013 ; accessed on February 9, 2017 (English). 
5. ↑ Rihanna Feat. Mikky Ekko - Stay Label: Def Jam Recordings - 0602537317707. In: Discogs . Retrieved February 9, 2017 . 
6. ^ Digital Sheet Music Stay by Rihanna. In: Musicnotes.com. Retrieved February 9, 2017 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b} Album Review Rihanna - Unapologetic. In: New Musical Express . November 21, 2012, accessed February 9, 2017 . 
8. ↑ Genius Stay - Rihanna. In: Genius.com . Retrieved February 9, 2017 . 
9. ^ Stephan Müller: Zartbeaterschokolade. In: Plattentests.de . Retrieved February 9, 2017 . 
10. ↑ Jon Dolan: Rihanna: Unapologetic. In: Rolling Stone . November 20, 2012, accessed February 10, 2017 . 
11. ↑ Lewis Corner: Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko: 'Stay' - Single review. In: Digital Spy . December 13, 2012, accessed February 10, 2017 . 
12. ↑ David Hilzendegen: Toothless and ephemeral like soap bubbles. In: Laut.de . Retrieved February 9, 2017 . 
13. ↑ Jon Caramanica: Rihanna, Icy Hot and Steely-Strong. In: The New York Times . November 20, 2012, accessed February 10, 2017 . 
14. ↑ Steven Gottlieb: In Production Rihanna "Stay" (Sophie Muller, Dir.). February 4, 2013, accessed February 10, 2017 . 
15. ↑ Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko - Stay - music video. YouTube , accessed January 21, 2020 . 
16. ^ Billboard Hot 100 February 23, 2013. In: Billboard . Retrieved February 10, 2017 . 
17. ↑ ^{a b} Rihanna Charthistory United States. Billboard , accessed February 9, 2017 . 
18. ^ RIAA Gold & Platinum Database. Recording Industry Association of America , accessed February 9, 2017 . 
19. ↑ ^{a b} Rihanna Charthistory United Kingdom. Official Charts Company , accessed February 9, 2017 . 
20. ↑ ^{a b} Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko - Stay - Chart positions Germany. GfK Entertainment , accessed on February 9, 2017 . 
21. ↑ Airplay Charts Germany: Week 09/2013. germancharts.de, accessed on June 14, 2020 . 
22. ↑ ^{a b} Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko - Stay - Chart positions Denmark. Hung Medien, accessed February 10, 2017 . 
23. ↑ Rihanna Wins Big At iHeartRadio Awards: See The Winners List. MTV , January 5, 2014, accessed February 10, 2017 . 
24. ↑ Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko - Stay - Chart positions Austria. Hung Medien, accessed February 9, 2017 . 
25. ↑ Rihanna feat. Mikky Ekko - Stay - Chart positions Switzerland. Hung Medien, accessed February 9, 2017 . 
26. ↑ Rihanna's Official Top 40 biggest selling singles. officialcharts.com, accessed May 3, 2017 .