The song started as a hook written by Skylar Grey, who also co-wrote Eminem's 2010 hit single "Love the Way You Lie".

[2] Eminem said on the Malcolm Gladwell Broken Record Podcast that the verses were written in Glasgow, Scotland while on tour in 2017.

[5] Jayson Greene of Pitchfork described the song as a "joyless trudge of a power ballad that pairs a softly crooned hook with fuming, escalating verses of rage-spittle.

[7] On November 8, 2017, Eminem tweeted a picture of a doctor's prescription note with the words "'Walk on Water', take as needed" written on it.

[11] The song was first performed by Eminem at the 2017 MTV Europe Music Awards on November 12 with co-producer and writer Skylar Grey on vocals.

[13] In the United States, "Walk on Water" debuted and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the 57th entry for both artists on the chart.

As a result, they tied with Madonna and The Rolling Stones for the 19th highest number of overall songs to enter the chart.

[14][15] The song opened the UK Singles Chart at number seven, becoming Eminem's 28th entry to reach the nation's top 10 and Beyoncé's 35th.

[16] Upon entering at number 10 on the ARIA Singles Chart, it became the rapper's thirteenth song as a lead artist to reach the top 10 in Australia and first since "The Monster" in 2013, and Beyoncé's 22nd, the first since 2011's Run the World (Girls)".