The DJ behind Rihanna's longest-running No. 1

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Loaded The DJ behind Rihanna's longest-running No. 1
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How Scottish DJ Calvin Harris wrote and produced Rihanna's We Found Love – 10 weeks at No. 1 – built like a club track, and why the co-writer on their 2016 hit, Nils Sjöberg, was Taylor Swift.

A DJ can write the hit, and the credits can hide who else did.

Facts

  • Rihanna's “We Found Love” (2011, featuring Calvin Harris) spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 – still the longest run of her 14 No. 1s – and 6 weeks at No. 1 in the UK. Its only credited songwriter is Harris (under his real name, Adam Wiles); he produced it, with Kuk Harrell producing the vocals.
  • Billboard describes the track as “a steady, repeating polysynth melody” with “rising bass and a demolishing drop”. Rolling Stone's 2011 review called it “the worst single of Rihanna's career” – and added: “It will probably top the Hot 100 anyway.”
  • Leona Lewis recorded the song first. In 2012 she said hers was “the same version and production”, but Harris went on tour with Rihanna and Rihanna released it.
  • Forbes named Harris the world's highest-paid DJ six years running (2013–18). His 2016 single “This Is What You Came For”, billed as Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna, reached No. 3 on the Hot 100.
  • Its credits named a co-writer, Nils Sjöberg. In July 2016 a representative for Taylor Swift confirmed to Rolling Stone that it was her pseudonym; Swift later said she chose “two of the most popular names of Swedish males”. Apple Music now credits her as a songwriter and background vocalist.
  • In 2009 French DJ David Guetta co-wrote and co-produced the Black Eyed Peas' “I Gotta Feeling”, which led the Hot 100 for 14 weeks – with his name nowhere on the artist line.

Sources

  1. Billboard: Rihanna – chart history, Billboard Hot 100 · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  2. Billboard: Rihanna's ‘Love’ scores a perfect 10 atop Hot 100 (18 Jan 2012) · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  3. Billboard: Rihanna roars onto Hot 100 as LMFAO get ‘Sexy’ in top 10 (28 Sep 2011) · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  4. Apple Music: We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) – song credits · Apple Music checked 9 October 2026
  5. Wikipedia: We Found Love (credits adapted from the CD single liner notes, Def Jam/SRP) · Wikipedia checked 9 October 2026
  6. Billboard: Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris' ‘We Found Love’ – Songs That Defined the Decade (Stephen Daw, 21 Nov 2019) · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  7. Rolling Stone: Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris, “We Found Love” – review (Jody Rosen, 26 Sep 2011; archived) · Rolling Stone checked 9 October 2026
  8. Carnegie Hall, Timeline of African American Music: House · Carnegie Hall checked 9 October 2026
  9. Osborn: Risers, drops and a fourteen-foot cube – a transmedia analysis of Emil Nava, Calvin Harris and Rihanna's ‘This Is What You Came For’ (in Transmedia Directors, Bloomsbury 2019) · Bloomsbury checked 9 October 2026
  10. Billboard: Calvin Harris tops the Forbes highest-paid DJ list for sixth straight year (31 Jul 2018) · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  11. Billboard: Calvin Harris – chart history, Billboard Hot 100 · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  12. Billboard: Listen to Rihanna and Calvin Harris' ‘This Is What You Came For’ (29 Apr 2016) · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  13. Pitchfork: Taylor Swift secretly co-wrote Calvin Harris and Rihanna's “This Is What You Came For” (Matthew Strauss, 13 Jul 2016) · Pitchfork checked 9 October 2026
  14. Rolling Stone: Taylor Swift co-wrote Calvin Harris' smash hit ‘This Is What You Came For’ (Brittany Spanos, 13 Jul 2016) · Rolling Stone checked 9 October 2026
  15. Rolling Stone: Musicians on Musicians – Taylor Swift & Paul McCartney (13 Nov 2020) · Rolling Stone checked 9 October 2026
  16. Apple Music: This Is What You Came For – song credits · Apple Music checked 9 October 2026
  17. Official Charts: We Found Love – Rihanna ft Calvin Harris, chart history · Official Charts checked 9 October 2026
  18. NME: Calvin Harris explains why he ditched Leona Lewis for Rihanna on Number One hit ‘We Found Love’ (22 Apr 2015; archived) · NME checked 9 October 2026
  19. Billboard: David Guetta – inside his latest hit parade, ‘Nothing But the Beat’ (Kerri Mason, 15 Aug 2011) · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  20. Billboard: Jay Sean sends Peas packing from Hot 100 penthouse (7 Oct 2009) · Billboard checked 9 October 2026
  21. Wikipedia: I Gotta Feeling · Wikipedia checked 9 October 2026

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Script

A DJ wrote Rihanna's longest-running No. 1. We Found Love, 2011: 10 weeks at No. 1 in the US. Written by one person: Calvin Harris, a Scottish DJ. He produced it too. He built it like a club track: a kick on every beat, a synth on repeat, a rising build… …and a drop. By 2016, Forbes ranked him the world's highest-paid DJ. And the names swapped: This Is What You Came For was his single, featuring Rihanna. The credits named a mystery co-writer: Nils Sjöberg. Nils Sjöberg was Taylor Swift.

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Sources last checked 9 October 2026.