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Last week, Eminem collected an RIAA Digital Single Diamond Award when his 2010 single "Not Afraid" surpassed 10 million sales and streams. The award was Eminem's second Digital Single Diamond Award (he had previously earned one for "Love The Way You Lie") making him the first artist ever to receive two RIAA Digital Single Diamond Awards.
It's an incredible accomplishment, but Eminem is used to awards like this. In his almost 20-year career, he has been nominated 505 times for various awards, winning 340 times, including 13 Grammys and an Academy Award. He has sold more than 42 million tracks and 49.1 million albums in the United States, and 100s of million albums worldwide. It's clear that "Rap God" is not just one of his song titles, it's his legacy.
In honor of his most recent award, we've outlined some of Eminem's biggest achievements and the most impressive records that he's set.
3. First artist since 1964 to have four songs in the top 20 of Billboard's Hot 100 as a lead artist
In November of 2013, Eminem became the first artist since the Beatles in 1964 to have at least four songs in the top 20 of Billboard's Hot 100 as a lead artist. 50 Cent (2005), T-Pain (2007-08), Lil Wayne (2008) and Ludacris (2010) all charted four singles in the top 20 simultaneously, but did so with songs that included featured billings.
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5. Most likes for a living person on Facebook
Eminem recently set the record for the most likes by a living person with 60.1 million, blowing past the competition and landing at #5 on the list of the top 10 Facebook pages.
According to the App Data page, Eminem is picking up close to 179,000 new likes a week (or 26,854 a day), edging out Rihanna who has 59.4 million likes and is gaining around 167,000 likes per week (or 22,141 a day).
UPDATE: Since this article, Eminem has been surpassed by Shakira, so he no longer holds this record.
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7. Second best-selling solo male artist of the SoundScan era
With the sales from his latest album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Eminem's cumulative album sales total 44.91 million. With this number he's suprassed George Strait (44.89 million) to become the second best-selling solo male artist of the SoundScan era, just behind Garth Brooks at 69.52 million albums sold.
Since SoundScan began tracking albums in 1991, Eminem is in sixth place overall. Garth Brooks has the most albums sold, with 69.52 million. The Beatles are second (65.55 million) and Metallica places third (54.26 million). Mariah Carey (54.24 million) and Celine Dion (52.21 million) round out the top five.
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9. First hip-hop artist to win an Academy Award
Eminem won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003 for "Lose Yourself," the single featured in his biopic 8 Mile, making him the first hip-hop artist to take home a golden statue. Eminem reportedly thought winning was such a long shot, that he didn't even attend the ceremony. Instead, he stayed home with his daughter Hailie, and napped through the event.
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11. Top selling artist of the 2000s
With 32.2 million overall album sales from 2000-2010, Eminem was the decade's top selling artist. The Beatles came in second with 30 million.
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13. First artist to win Best Rap Album for three consecutive LPs
Eminem's first Grammy for Best Rap Album came in 2000 for The Slim Shady LP. He then won the same award for his next two albums, The Marshall Mathers LP in 2001 and The Eminem Show in 2003. This made him the first artist to win Best Rap Album for three consecutive LPs.
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15. First hip-hop artist to win MTV Europe Music Global Icon Award
At the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards, Eminem was given the Global Icon Award, making him the first hip-hop artist to receive this honor. Before Em was Whitney Houston in 2012, Queen in 2011, and Bon Jovi in 2010.
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20. First artist in Nielsen SoundScan history to have two year-end best-selling albums
Eminem's Recovery earned the top spot for best-selling album of 2010, selling 3.42 million copies. He previously took the same honor in 2002, when The Eminem Show sold 7.61 million. This made him the first artist since 1991 (when Nielsen first started tracking music sales) to have two year-end best-selling albums.
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22. Fastest selling album in hip-hop history
Eminem's album, The Marshall Mathers LP, sold an astounding 1,760,049 in it's first week, making it the fastest selling album in hip-hop history. It sold twice as many copies in its first week than the previous rap record holder, Snoop Dogg's 1993 Doggystyle (800,000 copies). To give you some modern day perspective, Drake's Nothing Was The Same only moved 658,179 copies in it's first week.
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