Eminem’s Hit Single “River” is Reviving ‘Revival’

Eminem's newly-released album Revival has largely received negative critical reviews—it's the lowest-rated solo album of his career—but that hasn't stopped the 45-year-old veteran from tallying yet another hit record.

By any metric, Eminem's Ed Sheeran-assisted "River" is a certified hit. Despite falling 34 places on the Billboard Hot 100 over the last two weeks—the song peaked at No. 11 on January 3 but is currently situated at No. 45—the single is currently No. 12 on the iTunes Top 100 Singles chart and is a top 10 record in 25 countries on Spotify, where it's currently trending at No. 3 worldwide and has racked up nearly 91 million plays.

Believe it or not, the Emile Haynie-produced single is actually more popular on Apple Music, where it's currently a top 10 record in 37 countries. Of note, despite the song's popularity around the world, "River" is No. 67 in the United States.

Eminem deserves the lion's share of credit for the song's insta-success, but let's not pretend its guest feature isn't equally responsible for these incredible numbers. Ed Sheeran, who is currently the No. 1 artist on the global digital rankings, and miles ahead of the second most popular artist in the world, Post Malone, has a No 1. record on Billboard ("Perfect"), which is currently No. 1 on iTunes in 16 countries, top 10 in 11 countries on Spotify and top 10 in 45 countries on Apple Music. 

As a result of "River"'s success, coupled with the official release on Monday of the "Chloraseptic" remix featuring 2 Chainz and a blistering new verse from Eminem, Revival has jumped back into the No. 2 position on iTunes and remains a top 10 album on Apple Music in 51 (!) countries.