"River" is a song by American rapper Eminem featuring English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It is the fifth track from his ninth solo studio album Revival (2017). The song was written by the artists alongside producer Emile Haynie. "River" was released to radio on December 15, 2017 (alongside the rest of the album) in Italy, and in the UK on January 5, 2018, as the album's second single. The music video received a nomination for Best Cinematography at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards. "River" details the struggles of a failing relationship that culminates in an abortion.
Release and promotion
The song was released on the radio on January 5, 2018. An audio video was uploaded to Eminem's YouTube channel on December 15, 2017. As of 2025, As of February, 2026, the official video has over 208 million views and the audio video has over 224 million views.
Reception Spin magazine panned it, saying that it's "a song whose perfection of form is matched only by its emptiness of content. It could be beautiful."
Commercial performance Commercially, it reached number one in the United Kingdom, making it Eminem's ninth number one there and Sheeran's fifth. It also reached number one in Austria, Norway, Scotland and Sweden as well as the top 10 in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, and the top 20 in Belgium and the United States.
Music video A music video for the song was released on February 14, 2018. It was directed by Emil Nava. The video garnered over 5 million views in the first 24 hours of its release. As of October 2022, the video has been viewed over 188 million times and has accumulated over 2.6 million likes. The music video received a nomination for Best Cinematography at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards.
In their review of the video, Fuse described some of the scenes as "tense and serious", further stating that a "dark-haired Eminem plays the role so well and raps rhymes about making a woman give up her baby so convincingly, it's not entirely clear what's true and what's made up."
Composition The song runs for 3 minutes and 41 seconds and is in the key of G♯ minor, the chord progression for the intro is G♯m-B-E-F♯.
Live performances Eminem and Ed Sheeran performed the song live together for the first (and to date, only) time on the final night of Eminem's Revival Tour at Twickenham Stadium on July 15, 2018.
Awards and nominations
YearCeremonyAwardResult2018MTV Video Music AwardsBest Cinematography
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (2017–2018) Peak position Argentina Anglo (Monitor Latino) 18 Colombia (National-Report) 82 Croatia International Airplay (Top lista) 6 Euro Digital Songs (Billboard) 2 Greece International (IFPI) 6 Latvia (DigiTop100) 4 Lebanon Airplay (Lebanese Top 20) 3 Philippines (BillboardPH Hot 100) 50 Singapore (RIAS) 13 Slovenia (SloTop50) 19 Spain (PROMUSICAE) 57 Venezuela English (Record Report) 27
Year-end charts Chart (2018) Position Australia (ARIA) 19 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) 25 Belgium (Ultratop Flanders) 59 Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia) 31 Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 29 Denmark (Tracklisten) 18 France (SNEP) 100 Germany (Official German Charts) 17 Iceland (Plötutíóindi) 18 Ireland (IRMA) 36 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 20 Netherlands (Single Top 100) 72 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 29 Portugal (AFP) 70 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) 27 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 19 UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 30 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard) 52
Certifications
Release history Country Date Format Label Italy December 15, 2017 Contemporary hit radio Universal United Kingdom January 5, 2018 Polydor
See also List of number-one urban singles of 2018 (Australia) List of number-one hits of 2018 (Austria) List of number-one songs in Norway List of Scottish number-one singles of 2018 List of number-one singles of the 2010s (Sweden) List of UK Singles Chart number ones of the 2010s
References
External links