Eminem earns Billboard's Artist of the Decade title

Eminem has earned Billboard's artist of the decade title, just slightly more than 10 years after he made his Billboard Hot 100 debut.

The decade-end artist recap ranks the best-performing acts of the past 10 years (from December 4, 1999, to November 28, 2009) based on activity on two charts: the Billboard 200 albums list and the Billboard Hot 100 songs tally.

The hip-hop king first graced the Hot 100 chart February 27, 1999, with "My Name Is," then racked up another 27 entries from 2000 onward. On the Billboard 200, all five of his sets released in the decade reached No. 1. Additionally, his album "The Slim Shady LP" debuted and peaked at No. 2 in the spring of 1999, but continued to chart in 2000.

Eminem is also the top male artist of the decade. The female honor goes to Beyonce, while the top duo/group is Nickelback.

Beyonce's solo career began in the 2000s, notching 23 Hot 100 singles and five No. 1s. On the Billboard 200, she's racked six entries, including three studio efforts that all went to No. 1.


As for Nickelback, its entire Hot 100 history is contained in the '00s, and it started off well with its first No. 1, "How You Remind Me." The rock act has since earned five more top 10 singles. The group's last four albums reached the top 10 on the Billboard 200, including the No. 1 set "All the Right Reasons," which spent 156 weeks on the list.

Though Eminem is the decade's top artist, he was not the top performer for any single year. In 2000 and 2001, Destiny's Child netted the prize, followed by Nelly in '02, 50 Cent in '03 and '05, Usher in '04, Chris Brown in '06 and '08, Akon in '07 and Taylor Swift in '09.

STRONG START

Eminem helped kick off the decade with a bang, as "The Marshall Mathers LP" was one of five albums in 2000 to sell at least 1 million copies in one week. On the Billboard 200 dated June 10, 2000, it opened at No. 1 with 1.8 million, just a week after Britney Spears' "Oops! ... I Did It Again" debuted at No. 1 with 1.3 million and two months after 'N Sync set the one-week Nielsen SoundScan sales high of 2.4 million with "No Strings Attached."