On Sunday, July 21, Billboard confirmed that Eminem’s ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)’ is now the official number-one album in the country, dethroning Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ after a 12-week reign atop the charts.
The full-length album was released on Friday, July 12, and quickly rocketed to the top of iTunes in the US.
According to Luminate, ‘The Death of Slim Shady’ launched with 281,000 units. The record debuted with 220 million streams and 114,000 digital downloads, marking Eminem’s 11th album to top the Billboard Albums chart.
Eminem ties Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, and Ye (formerly Kanye West) for the fifth-most No. 1s on the Billboard 200 chart with his 11th No. 1. Ahead of them are The Beatles (a record of 19 No. 1s), Jay-Z and Swift (each with 14), and Drake (13).
Three artists also debuted with their highest-charting albums in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, with their most recent releases by ENHYPEN, CLairo, and Megan Moroney arriving at Nos. 2, 8, and 9, respectively. Meanwhile, Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department,’ which has been at the top of the chart for 12 weeks running, spends its first week outside the top spot and drops to No. 4 in its 13th week.
On Saturday, July 20, Swift wrote on social media, possibly hinting at the end of her run of number-one albums, “I also wanted to say to everyone who’s supported The Tortured Poets Department, I am completely blown away by what you’ve done – it stayed at #1 for the first 12 weeks of its release, and that’s never happened to an album of mine before, not even close!! You’re just the greatest.”
With ‘The Death of Slim Shady,’ Eminem’s remarkable run spanning nearly 30 years remains at the top of the charts. The last time one of Eminem’s albums began outside of Number One on the Billboard list was The Slim Shady LP in 1999, except his greatest hits album, ‘Curtain Call 2 (2022).’