Billboard reported yesterday that Gracie Abrams’ Daughter From Hell enters the Billboard 200 (dated Aug. 1) at No. 1. It’s the fifth album with the word “hell” in its title to reach No. 1 since the Billboard 200 launched as a consistent weekly feature in March 1956.
In the same 70+ years, just two albums with the word “heaven” (or a derivation of that word) in their titles have reached No. 1 – Johnny Mathis’ Heavenly, which topped the chart for five consecutive weeks in November and December 1959, and Zach Bryan’s With Heaven on Top, which led for one week in January of this year.
Fun Fact: This is the first year in which albums with the words “heaven” and “hell” in their titles have topped the Billboard 200 in the same calendar year.
Abrams’ album includes a track called “Daughter From Hell.” Likewise, Bryan’s album includes a track called “With Heaven on Top” and Mathis’ album includes a song titled “Heavenly.” But not all of the albums on this list had title tracks. Read on for the wonderful story about how Eagles’ 1994 album Hell Freezes Over, the band’s first album in 14 years, got its title.
Here are all the albums with the words “heaven” or “hell” in their titles that have reached No. 1. They are shown in chronological order, along with a running scorecard showing whether “heaven” or “hell” was ahead at that point. As you’ll see, “heaven” got off to an early lead, but “hell” caught up and eventually took the lead.
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Johnny Mathis, Heavenly
Date Reached No. 1: Nov. 9, 1959
Weeks at No. 1: 5
Notes: This was Mathis’ eighth studio album in a little more than three years (they didn’t dawdle back then). It included his, well, heavenly rendition of the standard “Misty,” which ranks high on the list of his all-time greatest performances. The album also included such top-tier ballads as “Hello, Young Lovers” and “Stranger in Paradise.” A young Burt Bacharach (30 at the time) and Sydney Shaw co-wrote the title track, which was the opening track on the album.
The Scorecard: “Heaven,” 1; “Hell,” 0
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Meat Loaf, Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell
Date Reached No. 1: Oct. 30, 1993
Weeks at No. 1: 1
Notes: This was the long-awaited sequel to Meat Loaf’s 1977 solo debut album Bat Out of Hell, which originally peaked at No. 14 but rose to a new peak of No. 13 in 2022. A third album in the series, Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose, debuted and peaked at No. 8 in 2006. Meat Loaf had a fourth album with the word “hell” in its title: Hell in a Handbasket, which debuted and peaked at No. 100 in 2012. “Back Into Hell” was the next-to-last track on this album. “Bat Out of Hell” was the opening track on that album.
The Scorecard: “Heaven,” 1; “Hell,” 1
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Eagles, Hell Freezes Over
Date Reached No. 1: Nov. 26, 1994
Weeks at No. 1: 2
Notes: The album title references a quote by Don Henley around the time of the band’s break-up in 1980. Henley was asked in an interview when the band would play together again, to which he responded “when hell freezes over.” As Henley learned from this experience: Never say never. This album was mostly recorded live at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif. for an MTV special, but also included four studio cuts. At the beginning of the concert, Frey joked to the audience: “For the record, we never broke up; we just took a 14-year vacation.”
The Scorecard: “Heaven,” 1; “Hell,” 2
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DMX, It’s Dark and Hell Is Hot
Date Reached No. 1: June 6, 1998
Weeks at No. 1: 1
Notes: This was the rapper’s first album. DMX debuted at No. 1 with his first five chart entries, with this album followed by Flesh of My Flesh Blood of My Blood (1999), …And Then There Was X (2000), The Great Depression (2001) and Grand Champ (2003). DMX was the only act to achieve that distinction until 2024, when Stray Kids equaled the feat.
The Scorecard: “Heaven,” 1; “Hell,” 3
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Bad Meets Evil, Hell: The Sequel
Date Reached No. 1: July 2, 2011
Weeks at No. 1: 1
Notes: This was the only EP by the duo composed of Detroit-based rappers Royce da 5′9″ (“bad”) and Eminem (“evil”). The opening track was titled “Welcome 2 Hell.”
The Scorecard: “Heaven,” 1; “Hell,” 4
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Zach Bryan, With Heaven on Top
Date Reached No. 1: Jan. 24, 2026
Weeks at No. 1: 1
Notes: This was Bryan’s sixth studio album. The title track is the closing track on the album. Like the rest of the album, it was written and produced entirely by Bryan.
The Scorecard: “Heaven,” 2; “Hell,” 4
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Gracie Abrams, Daughter From Hell
Date Reached No. 1: Aug. 1, 2026
Weeks at No. 1: 1 (so far)
Notes: This is Abrams’ third studio album. “Daughter From Hell” is the fourth track on the album. Abrams wrote and produced the song with Aaron Dessner. Abrams is the daughter of parents who have also achieved success in the entertainment industry – filmmaker J. J. Abrams and film and television producer Katie McGrath.
The Scorecard: “Heaven,” 2; “Hell,” 5
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