Eric Booker

Last updated

Eric Booker
Eric Booker 2010 (cropped).jpg
Booker at the 2010 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest
Personal information
Nickname(s)BadlandsChugs, Badlands Booker
Born (1969-06-21) June 21, 1969 (age 56)
Queens, New York, U.S.
OccupationCompetitive eater
Years active1997–present
Height6 ft 5 in (196 cm)
Weight400 lb (181 kg) [1]
SpouseRegina Booker
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–present
Subscribers3.6 million [2]
Views413 million [2]
Network Fox/FS1
YouTube Silver Play Button 2.svg100,000 subscribers2018
YouTube Gold Play Button 2.svg1,000,000 subscribers2019
Last updated: March 12, 2024

Eric James "Badlands" Booker (born June 21, 1969), also known by his online pseudonym BadlandsChugs, is an American competitive eater, rapper, and YouTuber. He holds seven Major League Eating recognized world records, [3] three Guinness World Records , [4] is a four-time Nathan's Lemonade Chugging Contest champion, and competed in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every year from 1997 to 2018. [5] [6]

Contents

Biography

By age 20, Booker began training his chug skills and training to compete in food championships. Booker lives on Long Island, he’s 6 ft 5+1⁄4 in (1.96 m) tall and weighs 400 lb (180 kg). [1]

Competitive eating career

Booker trains for competitions by trying to stretch his stomach and develop jaw strength. He eats large amounts of fruit and vegetables and drinks gallons of water in a sitting position in order to stretch his stomach and chews over 20 pieces of gum at a time to build jaw strength. [7] He maintains that competitive eating is a healthy sport and has lost weight since he began competing. [8] As of 2022, he is ranked 27th by the IFOCE. [9] Booker is also known for his YouTube channel, BadlandsChugs, in which he primarily performs soda chugging challenges, including Mountain Dew, Sprite, Gatorade, and milk. [10] In 2019, over the span of a year, his YouTube channel amassed over 3 million subscribers.

Nathan's Lemonade Chugging Contest (2021-present)

At the 2021 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, Booker won a lemonade drinking contest by consuming one gallon of lemonade in under 40 seconds. [11] He captured his second lemonade chugging contest title in 2022, [12] and repeated in 2023, setting a record of 23.08 seconds. [13] In 2024, he continued his lemonade-chugging winning streak, breaking his 2023 record with a time of 21 seconds. [14]

For the 2025 contest, Booker drank a gallon and a half of lemonade. [15]

Accomplishments

Some of Booker's accomplishments include:

Music career

Since 2004, Booker has performed and recorded competitive eating themed hip-hop as Badlands Booker, and he frequently performs selections from his albums at competitions. [22] [1] Besides his own nine albums, Booker has also made guest appearances on albums by Jendor and Loser's Lounge. [23] Much of the music used on his YouTube channel is created by himself and his son Brandon Booker (OKHIPHOP).

Discography [23]
TitleYear
Hungry & Focused2004
Hungry & Focused II: The Ingestion Engine2005
Hungry & Focused III: The Reframing2006
Hungry & Focused IV: Fork, Knife & Mic2007
Extended Play2009
Surf & Stillwell2010
Big Man Mentality2011
Surf & Stillwell 22017
Surf & Stillwell 32018
Big Man Mentality 22019

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Eric "Badlands" Booker". majorleagueeating.com. Major League Eating. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2021.
  2. 1 2 "About BadlandsChugs". YouTube.
  3. ↑ "Eric "Badlands" Booker". majorleagueeating.com. International Federation of Competitive Eating, Inc. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  4. 1 2 "YouTuber chugs litre of Mountain Dew in 6.8 sec to break record". Archived from the original on October 12, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  5. ↑ Stein, Sam; Cherkis, Jason (July 2, 2015). "One Very Large Man's 18-Year Quest For Hot Dog Eating Glory". huffpost.netblogpro.com. BuzzFeed, Inc. Archived from the original on July 8, 2023. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Results from The 2018 Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest". majorleagueeating.com. Archived from the original on October 26, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  7. ↑ "The Seattle Times: Food & wine: Eating champs to chow down at Everett wingding". Archived from the original on April 10, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2010. Eating champs to chow down at Everett wingding by Brian Alexander
  8. ↑ Archived August 9, 2010, at the Wayback Machine The Totally Earnest Eater by Pat Gee
  9. ↑ "Rankings". majorleagueeating.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
  10. ↑ "BadlandsChugs - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Eric 'Badlands' Booker wins inaugural Nathan's chug contest". ESPN. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
  12. ↑ Darney, Caroline. "Eric "Badlands" Booker won the Nathan's lemonade chug and celebrated with a massive burp". USA Today . Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  13. ↑ Chayes, Matthew (July 4, 2023). "Nathan's hot dog eating contest: Joey Chestnut wins again; Long Island's Eric 'Badlands' Booker sets lemonade-chugging record". Newsday . Associated Press. Archived from the original on July 15, 2023. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Eric 'Badlands' Booker set a new record in the Nathan's lemonade chug and roared into the microphone". For The Win. July 4, 2024. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  15. ↑ Live Walking NYC. "World Record Attempt! Eric "Badlands" Booker Chugs 2 Gallons of Lemonade!". youtube.com. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 International Federation of Competitive Eating, Eater Profiles: Eric Booker. Copyright 2004. "International Federation of Competitive Eating - IFOCE". Archived from the original on December 26, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2008.
  17. 1 2 Amy's Robot (blog) Robot-on-the-Spot: The World Cheesecake Eating Championship. Archived November 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ The Jewish Advocate; April 2005: by Nogg, Ozzie. Matzah ball-eating contest proves mother was right; Eric Booker cleans his plate, eats 21 matzah balls in five minutes.
  19. ↑ "Ruthie & Gussie/Empire Kosher Matzo Ball Contest". majorleagueeating.com. Retrieved February 12, 2024.
  20. ↑ Darney, Caroline (July 4, 2024). "Eric 'Badlands' Booker set a new record in the Nathan's lemonade chug and roared into the microphone". For The Win. USA Today . Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  21. ↑ "Fastest time to drink two litres of soda". Archived from the original on September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  22. ↑ "Selden's 'Badlands' aims for Nathan's title". Newsday. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  23. 1 2 "Badlands Booker". Spotify. November 6, 2020. Archived from the original on October 4, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.