Eminem's 'Revival' Heading for No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart
12/19/2017 by Keith Caulfield
Eminem performs onstage at the 2014 MTV Movie Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on April 13, 2014 in Los Angeles.
Plus: G-Eazy, Jeezy & “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” aiming for high debuts.
Eminem’s new album Revival is on course for a No. 1 debut on next week’s Billboard 200 chart, according to industry forecasters. Those in the know suggest the set -- which was released on Dec. 15 through Web/Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records -- may earn around 250,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Dec. 21.
If Revival tops the list, it will mark Eminem’s eighth consecutive, and total, No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The top 10 of the new Jan. 3-dated Billboard 200 chart (where Eminem will likely bow at No. 1) is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s websites on Sunday, Dec. 24.
Revival is Eminem’s first new studio album since 2013’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which debuted at No. 1 with 792,000 copies sold in its first week, according to Nielsen Music. (The Billboard 200 did not transition to a units-based tally until the end of 2014.)
Eminem also topped the chart with Recovery (2010), Relapse (2009), Curtain Call: The Hits (2005), Encore (2004), The Eminem Show (2002) and The Marshall Mathers LP (2000). His only album to miss the top slot was his major label debut effort, The Slim Shady LP, which debuted and peaked at No. 2.
Revival was led by the single “Walk on Water,” featuring Beyoncé, which has so far peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (marking Eminem’s 37th top 40-charting hit). Another A-list collaboration from the album, “River,” featuring Ed Sheeran, is set to debut on next week’s Hot 100.
Other albums aiming for high debuts on the Billboard 200 next week include: G-Eazy’s The Beautiful & Damned (which should start at No. 2 with around 130,000 units), Jeezy’s Pressure (a likely debut in the top 10, with perhaps 60,000 units) and the Star Wars: The Last Jedi soundtrack (around 40,000 units).