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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Laura Pollock

Amy Macdonald's This is the Life tops Saudi Arabian charts 16 years after its release

SCOTTISH singer Amy Macdonald has seen her 2007 hit single back on the top of the charts – but this time in Saudi Arabia thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo.

The former Manchester United star joined Saudi club Al Nassr in 2022 and with the transfer, his online influence has continued to grow as the most followed person in the world on social media

TikTok highlights of every game he plays for Al-Nassr go viral, with the latest clips providing unexpected consequences for Macdonald.

Videos set to Scots singer Macdonald's hit This is the Life have seen the song gather popularity to the point the single is now number one on Spotify in Saudi Arabia.

Macdonald's 2007 hit shot to the top of the charts in six countries upon its original release and the album, which featured the tune, gained triple platinum status.

The 36-year-old singer discussed her surprise to the phenomenon while appearing on the Restless Natives podcast hosted by Gordon Smart and actor Martin Compston.

To “an unbeknownst reason to me” the song is number one in Saudi Arabi, Macdonald shared and Compston asked how artists are notified of chart success.

She said: "Basically, they have charts everywhere, and those charts will be sent to management, but I had started noticing I was getting a lot of comments in Arabic on social media.

"I was like 'obviously it looks lovely but I've got no idea what it says' and there was just more and more of it.

"Somebody looked into it and there seems to be a lot of videos on social media using This Is the Life that are like Ronaldo playing football in Saudi Arabia.

"I said to one of my mates about it and they sent me a photoshop of Jordan Henderson wearing an Amy Macdonald tee-shirt."

This is the Life now has over 380 million plays on Spotify.

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