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Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (/ˌɛmɪˈnɛm/; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is widely considered as one of the greatest rappers of all time.[2] Eminem`s global success and acclaimed works are widely regarded as having broken racial barriers for the acceptance of white rappers in popular music. While much of his transgressive work during the late 1990s and early 2000s made him widely controversial, he came to be a representation of popular angst of the American underclass and has been cited as an influence for many artists of various genres.

After the release of his debut album Infinite (1996) and the extended play Slim Shady EP (1997), Eminem signed with Dr. Dre`s Aftermath Entertainment and subsequently achieved mainstream popularity in 1999 with The Slim Shady LP. His next two releases, The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) and The Eminem Show (2002), were worldwide successes and were both nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. After the release of his next album, Encore (2004), Eminem went on hiatus in 2005, largely due to a prescription drug addiction.[3] He returned to the music industry four years later with the release of Relapse (2009) and Recovery, which was released the following year. Recovery was the bestselling album worldwide of 2010, making it Eminem`s second album, after The Eminem Show in 2002, to be the best-selling album of the year worldwide. In the following years, he released the US number one albums The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013), Revival (2017), Kamikaze (2018) and Music to Be Murdered By (2020).

Eminem`s well-known hits include `My Name Is`, `The Real Slim Shady`, `The Way I Am`, `Stan`, `Without Me`, `Mockingbird`, `Not Afraid`, `Love the Way You Lie`, `The Monster`, `River` and `Rap God`, which broke the Guinness World Record for the most words in a hit single, with 1,560 words. In addition to his solo career, Eminem was a member of the hip hop group D12. He is also known for collaborations with fellow Detroit-based rapper Royce da 5`9`; the two are collectively known as Bad Meets Evil.

Eminem made his debut in the film industry with the musical drama film 8 Mile (2002), playing a dramatized version of himself. `Lose Yourself`, a track from its soundtrack, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks, the most for a solo rap song, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, making Eminem the first hip hop artist ever to win the award.[4] He has made cameo appearances in the films The Wash (2001), Funny People (2009) and The Interview (2014) and the television series Entourage (2010). Eminem has developed other ventures, including Shady Records, a joint venture with manager Paul Rosenberg, which helped launch the careers of artists such as 50 Cent, D12 and Obie Trice, among others. He has also established his own channel, Shade 45, on Sirius XM Radio.

Eminem is among the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of over 220 million records. He was the best-selling music artist in the United States of the 2000s and the bestselling male music artist in the United States of the 2010s, third overall. Billboard named him the `Artist of the Decade (2000–2009)`. He has had ten number-one albums on the Billboard 200—which all consecutively debuted at number one on the chart, making him the first artist to achieve this[5]—and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.[6] The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, Curtain Call: The Hits (2005), `Lose Yourself`, `Love the Way You Lie` and `Not Afraid` have all been certified Diamond or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[7] Rolling Stone has included him in its lists of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. He has won numerous awards, including 15 Grammy Awards, eight American Music Awards, 17 Billboard Music Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and an MTV Europe Music Global Icon Award. In November 2022, Eminem was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[8]

Early life
Mathers was born on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. and Deborah Rae `Debbie` (née Nelson).[9][10] He is of Scottish, Welsh, English, Cherokee,[b] German, Swiss, Polish, and possibly Luxembourgish ancestry.[13][11][14] His mother nearly died during her 73-hour labor with him.[15] Eminem`s parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas–Montana border before they separated. His father abandoned his family when he was a year and a half old, and Marshall was raised only by his mother, Debbie, in poverty.[9] His mother later had a son named Nathan `Nate` Kane Samara.[16] At age twelve, he and his mother had moved several times and lived in several towns and cities in Missouri (including St. Joseph, Savannah, and Kansas City) before settling in Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.[17] Eminem frequently fought with his mother, whom a social worker described as having a `very suspicious, almost paranoid personality`.[18] He wrote letters to his father, but Debbie said that they all came back marked `return to sender`.[19]


Eminem lived near 8 Mile Road in Detroit.
When he was a child, a bully named D`Angelo Bailey severely injured Eminem`s head in an assault,[20] an incident which Eminem later recounted (with comic exaggeration) on the song `Brain Damage`. Debbie filed a lawsuit against the public school for this in 1982. The suit was dismissed the following year by a Macomb County, Michigan judge, who said the schools were immune from lawsuits.[15] For much of his youth, Eminem and his mother lived in a working-class, primarily black, Detroit neighborhood. He and Debbie were one of three white households on their block, and Eminem was beaten several times by black youths.[19]

Eminem was interested in storytelling, aspiring to be a comic book artist before discovering hip hop.[21] He heard his first rap song (`Reckless`, featuring Ice-T) on the Breakin` soundtrack, a gift from Debbie`s half-brother Ronnie Polkingharn. His uncle was close to the boy and later became a musical mentor to him. When Polkingharn committed suicide in 1991, Eminem stopped speaking publicly for days and did not attend his funeral.[19][22]

At age 14, Eminem began rapping with high-school friend Mike Ruby; they adopted the names `Manix` and `M&M`, the latter evolving into `Eminem`.[22][15] Eminem sneaked into neighboring Osborn High School with friend and fellow rapper Proof for lunchroom freestyle rap battles.[23] On Saturdays, they attended open mic contests at the Hip-Hop Shop on West 7 Mile Road, considered `ground zero` for the Detroit rap scene.[19] Struggling to succeed in a predominantly black industry, Eminem was appreciated by underground hip hop audiences.[22][24][25] When he wrote verses, he wanted most of the words to rhyme; he wrote long words or phrases on paper and, underneath, worked on rhymes for each syllable. Although the words often made little sense, the drill helped Eminem practice sounds and rhymes.[26]

In 1987, Debbie allowed runaway Kimberly Anne `Kim` Scott to stay at their home. Several years later, Eminem began an on-and-off relationship with Scott.[15] After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades,[27] he dropped out of Lincoln High School at age 17. Although interested in English, Eminem never explored literature (preferring comic books) and he disliked math and social studies.[26] Eminem worked at several jobs to help his mother pay the bills. One of the jobs he had was with Little Caesar`s Pizza in Warren, Michigan.[28] He later said she often threw him out of the house anyway, often after taking most of his paycheck. When she left to play bingo, he would blast the stereo and write songs.[19]

Career
1988–1997: Early career, Infinite and family struggles
In 1988, he went by the stage name MC Double M and formed his first group New Jacks and made a self-titled demo tape with DJ Butter Fingers.[1][29][30] In 1989, they later joined Bassmint Productions who later changed their name to Soul Intent in 1992 with rapper Proof and other childhood friends.[31] They released a self-titled EP in 1995 featuring Proof.[22] Eminem also made his first music video appearance in 1992 in a song titled, `Do-Da-Dippity`, by Champtown. Later in 1996, Eminem and Proof teamed up with four other rappers to form The Dirty Dozen (D12), who released The Underground E.P. in 1997 and their first album Devil`s Night in 2001.[19] He was also affiliated with Newark`s rap collective Outsidaz, collaborating with them on different projects.

Eminem was soon signed to Jeff and Mark Bass`s F.B.T. Productions and recorded his debut album Infinite for their independent Web Entertainment label.[32] The album was a commercial failure upon its release in 1996.[33] One lyrical subject of Infinite was his struggle to raise his newborn daughter, Hailie Jade Scott Mathers, on little money. During this period, Eminem`s rhyming style, primarily inspired by rappers Nas, Esham and AZ, lacked the comically violent slant for which he later became known.[34] Detroit disc jockeys largely ignored Infinite and the feedback Eminem did receive (`Why don`t you go into rock and roll?`) led him to craft angrier, moodier tracks.[19] At this time Eminem and Kim Scott lived in a crime-ridden neighborhood and their house was robbed several times.[19] Eminem cooked and washed dishes for minimum wage at Gilbert`s Lodge, a family-style restaurant at St. Clair Shores.[35] His former boss described him as becoming a model employee, as he worked 60 hours a week for six months after Hailie`s birth.[15] He was fired shortly before Christmas and later said, `It was, like, five days before Christmas, which is Hailie`s birthday. I had, like, forty dollars to get her something.`[19] After the release of Infinite, his personal problems and substance abuse culminated in a suicide attempt.[22] By March 1997 he was fired from Gilbert`s Lodge for the last time and lived in his mother`s mobile home with Kim and Hailie.[15]

1997–1999: Introduction of Slim Shady, The Slim Shady LP and rise to success

Eminem and Proof performing in 1999
Eminem attracted more attention when he developed Slim Shady, a sadistic, violent alter ego. The character allowed him to express his anger with lyrics about drugs, rape and murder.[15] In the spring of 1997 he recorded his debut EP, the Slim Shady EP, which was released that winter by Web Entertainment.[19] The EP, with frequent references to drug use, sexual acts, mental instability and violence, also explored the more-serious themes of dealing with poverty and marital and family difficulties and revealed his direct, self-deprecating response to criticism.[22] Hip hop magazine The Source featured Eminem in its `Unsigned Hype` column in March 1998.[36]

After he was fired from his job and evicted from his home, Eminem went to Los Angeles to compete in the 1997 Rap Olympics, an annual, nationwide battle rap competition. He placed second and an Interscope Records intern in attendance called Dean Geistlinger asked Eminem for a copy of the Slim Shady EP, which was then sent to company CEO Jimmy Iovine.[37] Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, founder of Aftermath Entertainment and founding member of hip hop group N.W.A. Dre recalled, `In my entire career in the music industry, I have never found anything from a demo tape or a CD. When Jimmy played this, I said, `Find him. Now." He would later state on the fourth and last episode of The Defiant Ones, `I was like: what the fuck!?, and who the fuck is that?` expressing his shock towards Mathers` rapping talent. Although his associates criticized him for hiring a white rapper, he was confident in his decision: `I don`t give a fuck if you`re purple; if you can kick it, I`m working with you.`[19] Eminem had idolized Dre since listening to N.W.A as a teenager and was nervous about working with him on an album: `I didn`t want to be starstruck or kiss his ass too much ... I`m just a little white boy from Detroit. I had never seen stars let alone Dr. Dre.`[38] He became more comfortable working with Dre after a series of productive recording sessions.[39]

Eminem released The Slim Shady LP in February 1999. Although it was one of the year`s most popular albums (certified triple platinum by the end of the year),[40] he was accused of imitating the style and subject matter of underground rapper Cage.[41][42] The album`s popularity was accompanied by controversy over its lyrics; in "97 Bonnie & Clyde` Eminem describes a trip with his infant daughter when he disposes of his wife`s body and in `Guilty Conscience` which encourages a man to murder his wife and her lover. `Guilty Conscience` marked the beginning of a friendship and musical bond between Dr. Dre and Eminem. The label-mates later collaborated on a number of hit songs (`Forgot About Dre` and `What`s the Difference` while also providing uncredited vocals on `The Watcher` from Dr. Dre`s album 2001, `Bitch Please II` from The Marshall Mathers LP, `Say What You Say` from The Eminem Show, `Encore/Curtains Down` from Encore and `Old Time`s Sake` and `Crack a Bottle` from Relapse) and Dre made at least one guest appearance on each of Eminem`s Aftermath albums.[43] The Slim Shady LP has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.[44]

1999–2003: The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show

Eminem at the ARCO Arena for the Up in Smoke Tour in June 2000
After Eminem released The Slim Shady LP, he started his own record label, Shady Records, in late 1999. Eminem looked for an avenue to release D12, and his manager Paul Rosenberg was keen to start a label, which led to the two teaming up to form Shady.[45] Its A&R Marc Labelle has defined the record label as `a boutique label but [with] all the outlets of a major [and] Interscope backing up our every move.`[46]

Recorded from 1999 to 2000,[47] The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000. It sold 1.76 million copies in its first week, breaking US records held by Snoop Dogg`s Doggystyle for fastest-selling hip hop album and Britney Spears` ...Baby One More Time for fastest-selling solo album.[48][49] The first single from the album, `The Real Slim Shady`, was a success despite controversies about Eminem`s insults and dubious claims about celebrities (for example, that Christina Aguilera had performed oral sex on Carson Daly and Fred Durst).[50] In his second single, `The Way I Am`, he reveals the pressure from his record company to top `My Name Is`. Although Eminem parodied shock rocker Marilyn Manson in the music video for `My Name Is`, they are reportedly on good terms; Manson is mentioned in `The Way I Am`, appeared in its music video and has performed a live remix of the song with Eminem.[51] In the third single, `Stan` (which samples Dido`s `Thank You`), Eminem tries to deal with his new fame, assuming the persona of a deranged fan who kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend (mirroring "97 Bonnie & Clyde` from The Slim Shady LP).[24] The music magazine Q called `Stan` the third-greatest rap song of all time,[52] and it was ranked tenth in a Top40-Charts.com survey.[53] The song has since been ranked 296th on Rolling Stone`s `500 Greatest Songs of All Time` list.[54] In July 2000, Eminem was the first white artist to appear on the cover of The Source.[36] The Marshall Mathers LP was certified Diamond by the RIAA in March 2011 and sold 21 million copies worldwide.[55] In 2000 Eminem also appeared in the Up in Smoke Tour with rappers Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit and Ice Cube[56] and the Family Values Tour with Limp Bizkit,[57] headlining the Anger Management Tour with Papa Roach, Ludacris and Xzibit.

Eminem performed with Elton John at the 43rd Grammy Awards ceremony in 2001,[58] with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD, an organization which considered Eminem`s lyrics homophobic) condemning John`s decision to perform with Eminem.[59] Entertainment Weekly placed the appearance on its end-of-decade `best-of` list: `It was the hug heard `round the world. Eminem, under fire for homophobic lyrics, shared the stage with a gay icon for a performance of `Stan` that would have been memorable in any context.`[60] On February 21, the day of the awards ceremony, GLAAD held a protest outside the Staples Center (the ceremony`s venue).[61] Eminem was also the only guest artist to appear on fellow rapper Jay-Z`s critically acclaimed album The Blueprint, producing and rapping on the song `Renegade`.[62]

The Eminem Show was released in May 2002. It was another success, reaching number one on the charts and selling over 1.332 million copies during its first full week.[40] The album`s single, `Without Me`, denigrates boy bands, Limp Bizkit, Dick and Lynne Cheney, Moby and others. The Eminem Show, certified Diamond by the RIAA, examines the effects of Eminem`s rise to fame, his relationship with his wife and daughter and his status in the hip hop community, addressing an assault charge brought by a bouncer he saw kissing his wife in 2000. Although several tracks are clearly angry, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic found The Eminem Show less inflammatory than The Marshall Mathers LP.[63] L. Brent Bozell III, who had criticized The Marshall Mathers LP for misogynistic lyrics, noted The Eminem Show`s extensive use of obscenity and called Eminem `Eminef` for the prevalence of the word `motherfucker` on the album.[64] The Eminem Show sold 27 million copies worldwide[55] and was the bestselling album of 2002.

2003–2007: Production work, Encore and musical hiatus

Eminem on the Anger Management Tour in 2003
In 2003, Eminem, a lifelong fan of Tupac,[65] provided production work for three tracks on the Tupac Resurrection soundtrack.[66] He would follow this up the next year by producing 12 of the 16 tracks on Tupac`s Loyal to the Game album.[66] On December 8, 2003, the United States Secret Service said that it was `looking into` allegations that Eminem had threatened the President of the United States.[67] The cause for concern was the lyrics of `We As Americans` (`Fuck money / I don`t rap for dead presidents / I`d rather see the president dead / It`s never been said, but I set precedents`), which was later released on a bonus CD with the deluxe edition of Encore.[68]

Encore, released in 2004, was another success, but not as successful as his previous albums. Its sales were partially driven by the first single, `Just Lose It`, which contained slurs directed toward Michael Jackson. On October 12, 2004, a week after the release of `Just Lose It`, Jackson phoned Steve Harvey`s radio show, The Steve Harvey Morning Show, to report his displeasure with its video (which parodies Jackson`s child molestation trial, plastic surgery and the 1984 incident when Jackson`s hair caught fire during the filming of a commercial). In the song, Eminem says, `That`s not a stab at Michael / That`s just a metaphor / I`m just psycho.` Many of Jackson`s friends and supporters spoke out against the video, including Stevie Wonder, who described it as `kicking a man while he`s down` and `bullshit`,[69] and Steve Harvey (who said, `Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back`).[69] The video also parodied Pee-wee Herman, MC Hammer and Madonna during her Blond Ambition period.[70] `Weird Al` Yankovic, who parodied the Eminem song `Lose Yourself` on `Couch Potato` for his 2003 album Poodle Hat, told the Chicago Sun-Times about Jackson`s protest: `Last year, Eminem forced me to halt production on the video for my `Lose Yourself` parody because he somehow thought that it would be harmful to his image or career. So the irony of this situation with Michael is not lost on me.`[71] Although Black Entertainment Television stopped playing the video, MTV announced that it would continue to air it. The Source, through CEO Raymond `Benzino` Scott, called for the video to be pulled, the song removed from the album and Eminem to apologize publicly to Jackson.[72] In 2007, Jackson and Sony bought Famous Music from Viacom, giving him the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira, Beck and others.[73]

Despite its lead single`s humorous theme, Encore explored serious subject matter with the anti-war song `Mosh`, which criticized President George W. Bush as `This weapon of mass destruction that we call our president`, with lyrics including `Fuck Bush.`[74] On October 25, 2004, a week before the 2004 US Presidential election, Eminem released the video for `Mosh` on the Internet.[75] In it, Eminem gathers an army (including rapper Lloyd Banks) of Bush-administration victims and leads them to the White House. When they break in, it is learned that they are there to register to vote; the video ends with `VOTE Tuesday November 2.` After Bush`s reelection, the video`s ending was changed to Eminem and the protesters invading the White House during a speech by the president.[76] Also in 2004 Eminem launched a satellite music channel, Shade 45, on Sirius radio,[77] which was described by his manager as `essentially a destination to get and hear things that other people aren`t playing.`[78]

Eminem began his first US concert tour in three years in the summer of 2005 with the Anger Management 3 Tour, featuring 50 Cent, G-Unit, Lil Jon, D12, Obie Trice and the Alchemist, but in August he canceled the European leg of the tour, later announcing that he had entered drug rehabilitation for treatment of a `dependency on sleep medication`.[79] Meanwhile, industry insiders speculated that Eminem was considering retirement, while rumors circulated that a double album titled The Funeral would be released.[80] In July, the Detroit Free Press reported a possible final bow for Eminem as a solo performer, quoting members of his inner circle as saying that he would embrace the roles of producer and label executive.[81] A greatest hits album, Curtain Call: The Hits, was released on December 6, 2005, by Aftermath Entertainment,[82] and sold nearly 441,000 copies in the US in its first week, marking Eminem`s fourth consecutive number-one album on the Billboard Hot 200,[83] and was certified double platinum by the RIAA.[84] However, Eminem suggested that month on WKQI`s `Mojo in the Morning` show that he would be taking a break as an artist: `I`m at a point in my life right now where I feel like I don`t know where my career is going ... This is the reason that we called it `Curtain Call` because this could be the final thing. We don`t know.`[85]


Proof`s (left) death in 2006 was one of the factors that caused Eminem to fall into depression during his five-year hiatus.[86]
In April 2006, Proof, who was Eminem`s childhood friend, was murdered.[87] Eight months later, Eminem released a compilation album titled Eminem Presents: The Re-Up that featured Proof and other Shady Records artists.

2007–2009: Comeback and Relapse
In September 2007, Eminem called New York radio station WQHT during an interview with 50 Cent, saying that he was `in limbo` and `debating` about when (or if) he would release another album: `I`m always working – I`m always in the studio. It feels good right now, the energy of the label. For a while, I didn`t want to go back to the studio ... I went through some personal things. I`m coming out of those personal things [and] it feels good.`[88]

Eminem appeared on his Shade 45 Sirius channel in September 2008, saying: `Right now I`m kinda just concentrating on my own stuff, for right now and just banging out tracks and producing a lot of stuff. You know, the more I keep producing the better it seems like I get `cause I just start knowing stuff.`[89] Interscope confirmed that a new album[90] would be released in spring 2009.[91] In December 2008, Eminem provided more details about the album, entitled Relapse: `Me and Dre are back in the lab like the old days, man. Dre will end up producing the majority of the tracks on `Relapse`. We are up to our old mischievous ways ... let`s just leave it at that.`[92]

According to a March 5, 2009, press release, Eminem would release two new albums that year. Relapse, the first, was released on May 19; its first single and music video, `We Made You`, had been released on April 7.[93] Although Relapse did not sell as well as Eminem`s previous albums and received mixed reviews, it was a commercial success and re-established his presence in the hip hop world. It sold more than five million copies worldwide.[94] During the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, Sacha Baron Cohen descended on the audience in an angel costume. He landed buttocks-first on Eminem, who stormed out of the ceremony; three days later, Eminem said that the stunt had been staged.[95] On October 30 he headlined at the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, his first full performance of the year.[96] Eminem`s act included several songs from Relapse, many of his older hits and an appearance by D12. On November 19, he announced on his website that Relapse: Refill would be released on December 21. The album was a re-release of Relapse with seven bonus tracks, including `Forever` and `Taking My Ball`. Eminem described the CD:

I want to deliver more material for the fans this year like I originally planned ... Hopefully, these tracks on The Refill will tide the fans over until we put out Relapse 2 next year ... I got back in with Dre and then a few more producers, including Just Blaze, and went in a completely different direction which made me start from scratch. The new tracks started to sound very different than the tracks I originally intended to be on Relapse 2, but I still want the other stuff to be heard.[97]