Top of the pops! British singer reveals how Cristiano Ronaldo and Jordan Henderson helped her get to No. 1 in the charts

• Amy Macdonald is suddenly popular in Saudi Arabia
• A 2007 song is top of the country's Spotify chart
• TikTok videos of Cristiano Ronaldo are responsible

WHAT HAPPENED? Spotify users in Saudi Arabia have been listening to Amy Macdonald's 2007 song This Is The Life in big enough numbers to suddenly put it top of the streaming service's chart in the country. The singer has revealed that her new success is down to footballers Cristianon Ronaldo and Jordan Henderson.

WHAT THEY SAID: "I had started noticing I was getting a lot of comments in Arabic on social media," Macdonald told the Restless Natives podcast. "I was like, '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 t-shirt."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Despite first being released 16 years ago, Macdonald's song has become popular on TikTok as a soundtrack acompanying videos of Al Nassr's Ronaldo and Al Ettifaq's Henderson, prompting listeners in Saudi Arabia to search for the full song on Spotify and listen to it.

IN A VIDEO:

WHAT NEXT FOR RONALDO & HENDERSON? The 2023-24 Saudi Pro League season is in full swing. Al Nassr sit third after 10 games, four points off the lead, with Al Ettifaq five points further back in seventh.