A new Billboard breakdown has placed Eminem in elite company. With 35 total weeks spent at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the Detroit legend now shares his spot with none other than Prince. It’s a reminder that Marshall Mathers is much more than a hip hop icon, he’s a chart giant with legacy-artist numbers.
The list arrives as Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” climbs back to No.1 for a 13th week, giving him 42 career weeks at the top. That total follows only seven other acts in Billboard history. Meanwhile, Drake holds the current hip hop record with 37 weeks, just two ahead of Eminem.
A reign that spans decades
Eminem first topped the Billboard 200 in June 2000 with “The Marshall Mathers LP”. That album went on to spend eight weeks at No. 1, his longest single run. His most recent week at the top came 25 years later, in July 2024, with “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)”. In fact, it was his 11th album to debut at the Billboard No.1. Also, with that Eminem earned the biggest US unit sales week for a rap album on the Billboard 200 of the year to date and the fourth-best result across all genres.
Few artists can claim that kind of staying power. Most on this list either peaked before the streaming era or disappeared from charts long before digital platforms took hold. Eminem, meanwhile, has bridged generations.
A focused tally
Billboard counts 11 of Eminem’s albums in this total, including 2005’s “Curtain Call: The Hits”. However, Billboard excluded projects tied to 8 Mile, D12, or Bad Meets Evil. That makes the 35-week run purely Eminem’s own.
He ranks among seven male vocalists like Elvis Presley, Garth Brooks, Michael Jackson, and Harry Bellafonte in terms of total No.1 weeks. Prince, another boundary-breaking artist who blurred genre lines, also peaked at No.35.
Both built dedicated fanbases. Both maintained chart relevance across decades. And both proved that doing things your own way can still lead to massive commercial success.
