Drake Makes History with Three Albums on Billboard 200
Drake has made history by becoming the first artist in the U.S. to have three albums at the top of the Billboard 200 chart simultaneously. The Canadian rapper, who is 39 years old, released his records Iceman, Habibi and Maid of Honour on Friday, May 15. These albums debuted at first, second and third positions respectively on this week’s chart.
According to Billboard, this achievement marks the first time any artist has reached this milestone since the charts began publishing weekly in March 1956. Iceman is Drake’s 15th number one album in the U.S., surpassing Jay-Z to become the solo male artist with the most number one records. As a solo artist, he now matches Taylor Swift in this regard. However, the Beatles still hold the overall record with 19 number one albums.
Record-Breaking Success in the U.K.
Drake also set a similar record in the U.K. by becoming the first artist to have three albums in the top 10. While Iceman topped the U.K. charts, Maid of Honour ranked sixth and Habibi seventh.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Drake had already set a new Spotify streaming record for 2026 when Iceman achieved 140.2 million streams in the first 24 hours after its release. This figure made it the second biggest hip-hop debut ever on the streaming service, behind Drake’s own 2021 release Certified Lover Boy, which was streamed 153 million times in its first 24 hours.
By contrast, Drake’s longtime rival Kendrick Lamar’s most recent album, GNX, was surprise-released midway through a day in November 2024 and was streamed 44 million times in its initial 7 hours. During its first full 24-hour tracking period, it was streamed 75 million times.
Both albums lag some way behind Spotify’s overall record, which was set in April 2024 when Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department was streamed 313.7 million times in 24 hours.
Dominance on Spotify
The success of Iceman, along with the release of two further albums, Maid of Honour and Habibi, helped Drake become the most-streamed artist on Spotify in a single day this year, with over 250 million total streams on Friday.
Mixed Critical Reception
Critical reaction to Drake’s three new albums has been mixed. In a review for The Independent, music editor Roisin O’Connor wrote: “For years now, one of the biggest of Drake’s myriad issues has been his inability to self-edit. Bloat plagued 2018’s Scorpion and 2023’s For All the Dogs, both of which contained no fewer than 23 songs. It didn’t help that the material was severely lacking, too. And now we have not just Iceman – promoted via silly immersive stunts like a giant block of ice dumped in the centre of Toronto – but also Maid of Honour and Habibi.”
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