Age, Biography, and Wiki
Eminem, born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, is currently 53 years old and has been active in the music industry for nearly four decades. His life and career have been extensively documented on Wikipedia, where fans can find detailed information about his early life, rise to fame, and achievements in music and filmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminem.
| Occupation | Autobiographer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 17 October 1972 |
| Age | 52 Years |
| Birth Place | St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Libra |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Eminem stands at approximately 5 feet 8 inches (173 cm) tall and weighs around 150 pounds (68 kg), though these figures may vary slightly over time.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popularizing hip-hop in Middle America and breaking down 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 a controversial figure, he came to be a representation of popular angst of the American underclass.
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), became worldwide successes; the latter was the best-selling album worldwide of that year, and remains the best-selling hip-hop album in history. Following the release of Encore (2004), Eminem went on hiatus, largely due to a prescription drug addiction. He returned to the music industry with the releases of Relapse (2009) and Recovery (2010), the latter becoming the best-selling album worldwide of 2010. Each of his subsequent releases—The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013), Revival (2017), Kamikaze (2018), Music to Be Murdered By (2020), and The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) (2024)—have debuted atop the US Billboard 200.
Eminem was also a member of the hip-hop groups New Jacks, Soul Intent, Outsidaz, and D12, and has collaborated with fellow Detroit-based rapper Royce da 5'9" to form the duo Bad Meets Evil. He starred in the 2002 musical drama film 8 Mile, in which he played a dramatized version of himself. "Lose Yourself", a song from its soundtrack, topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks—the most for a solo rap song—and won an Academy Award for Best Original Song, making him the first hip-hop artist ever to win the award. Eminem also co-founded Shady Records, which helped launch the careers of artists such as D12, 50 Cent, and Obie Trice. He established his own Sirius XM Radio channel, Shade 45, and opened a restaurant, Mom's Spaghetti.
Eminem was interested in storytelling, aspiring to be a comic book artist before discovering hip-hop. He heard his first rap song, "Reckless", 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. Following Polkingharn's suicide in 1991, Eminem stopped speaking publicly for days and did not attend his funeral.
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". Eminem snuck into neighboring Osborn High School with friend and fellow rapper Proof for lunchroom freestyle rap battles. 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. Struggling to succeed in a predominantly black industry, Eminem was appreciated by underground hip-hop audiences. 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.
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. In the spring of 1997, he recorded his debut EP, the Slim Shady EP, which was released that winter by Web Entertainment. 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. Hip-hop magazine The Source featured Eminem in its "Unsigned Hype" column in March 1998.
After he was fired from his job and evicted from his home, Eminem went to Los Angeles to compete in the 1997 Rap Olympics, a nationwide battle rap competition. He placed second, losing to Project Blowed MC Otherwize. An Interscope Records intern named Dean Geistlinger was in attendance and asked Eminem for a copy of the Slim Shady EP, which was then sent to company CEO Jimmy Iovine. 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., expressing his shock towards Mathers's rapping talent. Although his associates criticized him for hiring a white rapper, Dre 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." Eminem had idolized Dre since listening to N.W.A as a teenager and was nervous about working with him on an album. He became more comfortable working with Dre after a series of productive recording sessions. On March 9, 1998, Eminem got signed to Aftermath and Interscope.
Recorded from 1999 to 2000, The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000. It sold 1.76 million copies in its first week, breaking U.S. 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. The first single from the album, "The Real Slim Shady", was a success despite controversies about Eminem's insults and dubious claims about celebrities. 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. The third single, "Stan", was ranked by Q as the third-greatest rap song ever, and it was ranked tenth in a Top40-Charts.com survey. The song has since been ranked 296th on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. In July 2000, Eminem was the first white artist to appear on the cover of The Source. The Marshall Mathers LP was certified Diamond by the RIAA in March 2011 and sold 21 million copies worldwide.
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. 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. On October 30, he headlined at the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans, his first full performance of the year. 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."
Eminem is the executive producer of the soundtrack on the sports drama Southpaw, with Shady Records. He was the first interview of Zane Lowe in Beats 1. The interview streamed online on the Beats 1 radio on July 1, 2015. Eminem appeared on the public access show Only in Monroe, produced in Monroe, Michigan. In June 2015, it was revealed that Eminem would serve as the executive producer and music supervisor on the TV series Motor City whose premise was based upon the 2002 film Narc. On October 19, 2016, Eminem released a new song called "Campaign Speech", a political hip-hop song and announced he was working on a new album. On November 17, 2016, Eminem released a remastered version of 'Infinite' on his YouTube VEVO channel. On November 22, 2016, Eminem released a trailer for a 10-minute short documentary called Partners in Rhyme: The True Story of Infinite.
In February 2017, Eminem appeared on "No Favors", a track from Big Sean's album I Decided. In the song, Eminem calls the newly elected President Donald Trump a "bitch" and also raps about raping conservative social and political commentator Ann Coulter, who is a Trump supporter, with a variety of foreign objects. Coulter responded to the lyrics, stating, "I think it's unfortunate that the left, from Berkeley to Eminem with his rap songs, has normalized violence against women, as Eminem has done." Eminem participated in the 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards' annual cypher, using his verse, a freestyle rap called "The Storm", to further criticize Trump and the administration for, among other things, Trump's focus on National Football League players' protests during "The Star Spangled Banner" over Hurricane Maria recovery efforts and lack of gun control reform in the wake of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting. Eminem ended the cypher by giving an ultimatum saying that Trump supporters cannot be his fans. The verse received wide praise among other rappers following its release. It was reported that the Secret Service interviewed Eminem in 2018–2019, regarding threatening lyrics towards President Trump and daughter Ivanka.
Eminem has cited several MCs as influencing his rapping style, including Esham, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, Tupac Shakur, Newcleus, Ice-T, Mantronix, Melle Mel (on "The Message"), LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Run-D.M.C., Rakim, and Boogie Down Productions. At the 2022 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Eminem named more than 100 artists from hip-hop's golden age—from rap's early days through to the mid-1990s—who contributed, in ways big and small, to the artist he would become.
In How to Rap, Guerilla Black notes that Eminem studied other MCs to hone his rapping technique: "Eminem listened to everything and that's what made him one of the greats". In the book, other MCs also praise aspects of his rapping technique: varied, humorous subject matter, connecting with his audience, carrying a concept over a series of albums, complex rhyme schemes, bending words so they rhyme, multisyllabic rhymes, many rhymes to a bar, complex rhythms, clear enunciation, and the use of melody and syncopation. Eminem is known to write most of his lyrics on paper (documented in The Way I Am), taking several days or a week to craft lyrics, being a "workaholic" and "stacking" vocals. Examples of hip-hop subgenres that Eminem's music has been described as include horrorcore, comedy hip-hop, and hardcore hip-hop. Eminem also incorporates rap rock into his music and has cited rock acts during the 1970s and 1980s, such as Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, as influences in his music.
Credited for popularizing hip-hop to a Middle American audience, Eminem's unprecedented global commercial success and acclaimed works for a white rapper is widely recognized for breaking racial barriers for the acceptance of white rappers in popular music. Rising from rags to riches, Eminem's anger-fueled music represented widespread angst and the reality of American underclass.
Stephen Hill, the then vice president of African American-themed television network BET (Black Entertainment Television), said in 2002:"Eminem gets a pass in the same vein that back during segregation black folks had to be better than average, had to be the best, to be accepted ... he is better than the best. In his own way, he is the best lyricist, alliterator and enunciator out there in hip-hop music. In terms of rapping about the pain that other disenfranchised people feel, there is no one better at their game than Eminem."
Eminem has been credited with boosting the careers of hip-hop proteges such as 50 Cent, Yelawolf, Stat Quo, Royce da 5'9", Cashis, Obie Trice, Bobby Creekwater, Boogie and hip-hop groups such as D12 and Slaughterhouse. A number of artists have cited Eminem as an influence, including;
Eminem established his own satellite radio channel, Shade 45, that plays uncut hip-hop. Eminem also established a new morning show, Sway in the Morning with Sway Calloway, a lively morning show that airs at 8:00 a.m., Monday–Friday.
After small roles in the 2001 film The Wash and as an extra in the 1998 Korn music video for "Got the Life" (during which he gave the band a demo tape), Eminem made his Hollywood debut in the semi-autobiographical 2002 film 8 Mile. He said it was a representation of growing up in Detroit rather than an account of his life. He recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself" (which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003 and became the longest-running No. 1 hip-hop single in history). Eminem was absent from the ceremony and co-composer Luis Resto accepted the award.
Eminem has also been included and ranked in several publications' lists. Rolling Stone included him in its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. He was ranked 9th on MTV's Greatest MCs of All Time list. He was ranked 13th on MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music list and 79th on the VH1 100 Greatest Artists of All Time lists. He was ranked 82nd on Rolling Stone's "The Immortals" list. In 2010, MTV Portugal ranked Eminem the 7th biggest icon in popular music history. In 2012, The Source ranked him 6th on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time, while About.com ranked him 7th on its list of the 50 Greatest MCs of Our Time (1987–2007). In 2015, Eminem was placed third on "The 10 Best Rappers of All Time" list by Billboard. In 2008, Vibe readers named Eminem the Best Rapper Alive. In 2011, Eminem was labeled the "King of Hip-Hop" by Rolling Stone based on an analysis of album sales, chart positions, YouTube views, social media following, concert grosses, industry awards and critical ratings of solo rappers who released music from 2009 to the first half of 2011. Eminem was also inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2022.
| Height | 5 feet 8 inches |
| Weight | 68 kg |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Eminem has been private about his current relationship status, but he has been married twice: first to Kimberly Anne Scott from 1999 to 2001, and again briefly in 2006. He has a daughter named Hailie Jade Mathers, born in 1995.
Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. and Deborah "Debbie" Nelson. His mother nearly died during her 73-hour labor with him. 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 Eminem was a year and a half old, and Eminem was raised only by his mother in poverty. He wrote letters to his father, but Debbie said that they all came back marked "return to sender".
By the age of twelve, Eminem and his mother shuttled between states, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and mostly living with family members, moved several times and lived in St. Joseph; Savannah, Missouri; Kansas City; Warren, Michigan; and Roseville, Michigan before settling in Detroit. For much of his youth, Eminem and his mother lived in a bungalow-style house in a working-class, primarily black, neighborhood in Detroit. He and Debbie were one of three white households on their block, and Eminem was beaten several times by black youths. His mother had a son named Nathan "Nate" Kane Samara in 1986 with then-boyfriend Fred Samara. In 2013, the State of Michigan demolished his childhood home after it was damaged by arson.
Eminem frequently fought with his mother, whom a social worker described as having a "very suspicious, almost paranoid personality". When he was a child, a bully named D'Angelo Bailey severely injured Eminem's head in an assault, an incident which Eminem later recounted 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.
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. After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades, 17-year-old Eminem dropped out of Lincoln High School. Although interested in English, Eminem never explored literature, preferring comic books, and he disliked math and social studies. He states that he later received a GED. Eminem worked at several jobs to help his mother pay the bills, one of which was at Little Caesar's Pizza in Warren. 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.
At this time, Eminem and Kim Scott lived in a crime-ridden neighborhood where their house was robbed several times. Eminem cooked and washed dishes for minimum wage at Gilbert's Lodge, a family-style restaurant in St. Clair Shores. His former boss described him as becoming a model employee, as he worked 60 hours a week for six months after the birth of his daughter, Hailie Jade Scott Mathers. 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." After the release of Infinite, his personal problems and substance abuse culminated in a suicide attempt. 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.
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), he was accused of imitating the style and subject matter of underground rapper Cage (who he references in the album's song "Role Model"). 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", he 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 and Dre made at least one guest appearance on each of Eminem's Aftermath albums. The Slim Shady LP has been certified quadruple platinum by the RIAA.
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. 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. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic found The Eminem Show less inflammatory than The Marshall Mathers LP. 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. The Eminem Show sold 27 million copies worldwide and was the bestselling album of 2002.
Eminem was the executive producer of D12's first two albums (Devil's Night and D12 World), Obie Trice's Cheers and Second Round's on Me and 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre. Most of The Eminem Show was produced by Eminem and his longtime collaborator, Jeff Bass, and Eminem co-produced Encore with Dr. Dre. In 2004, Eminem was co-executive producer of 2Pac's posthumous album Loyal to the Game with Shakur's mother, Afeni.
In 2002, the BBC said that the perception of Eminem as a "modern-day William Shakespeare" was comparable to the reception of American singer Bob Dylan: "Not since Bob Dylan's heyday in the mid-1960s has an artist's output been subjected to such intense academic scrutiny as an exercise in contemporary soul-searching. U.S. critics point to [Eminem's] vivid portraits of disenfranchised lives—using the stark, direct language of the street—as an accurate reflection of social injustice." In addition, the BBC highlighted that, "Where parents once recoiled in horror [to his music], there now seems a greater willingness to acknowledge a music that is striking such a chord among the American young, angry white underclass."
On October 21, 2008, his autobiography The Way I Am was published by Dutton Adult. The book is illustrated with never before published photos of Eminem's life. The autobiography is named after his 2000 song "The Way I Am". An autobiography of Eminem's mother, My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, was published the following month.
Eminem was married twice to Kimberly Anne Scott, whom he met in high school. Scott and her twin sister had run away from home; they moved in with Eminem and his mother when he was 15 and he began an on-and-off relationship with Scott on January 14, 1991. Eminem legally adopted and was given custody of his former sister-in-law's daughter Alaina Marie, as well as Scott's child from an affair, Stevie Laine. He also raised his younger half-brother Nathan.
Mathers and Scott were married on June 14, 1999, and divorced on October 5, 2001. Eminem and actress Brittany Murphy (with whom he co-starred in 8 Mile) dated in the 2000s. He stated in 2002 that he had been dating singer Mariah Carey, though she later denied it. He and Scott briefly remarried on January 14, 2006. He filed for divorce almost three months later on April 5, agreeing to joint custody of Hailie, with the divorce being finalized on December 19, 2006. In early 2010, Eminem denied tabloid reports that he and Scott had renewed their romantic relationship, though his representative confirmed they were still friendly with each other. Their daughter, Hailie Jade, is an influencer, specifically for fashion and beauty. She married Evan McClintock in May 2024, and gave birth to Eminem's first grandchild on March 14, 2025.
In his 2013 song "Headlights", Eminem reiterated his love for his mother and apologized to her for some of the lyrics from his songs, with the song "Cleanin' Out My Closet" being mentioned. His mother publicly paid tribute to him when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022. She died due to complications from lung cancer in December 2024.
Eminem has spoken publicly about his addiction to prescription drugs, including Vicodin, Ambien, and Valium. According to friend and fellow D12 member Proof, Eminem, who previously hinted in his 1999 single "My Name Is" that he avoided the use of drugs after experiencing his mother's history of drug abuse, first developed a drug addiction in 2002. During the production of 8 Mile, Eminem, working 16 hours a day, developed insomnia. An associate gave him an Ambien tablet which "knocked [him] out", encouraging him to obtain a prescription. This was Eminem's first experience of drug addiction, which would affect him for several years. Near the end of production on Encore, he would "just go into the studio and goof off [with] a pocketful of pills". Eminem began taking the drugs to "feel normal", taking a "ridiculous amount ... I could consume anywhere from 40 to 60 Valium [in a day]. Vicodin, maybe 30." The drugs would put him to sleep for no more than two hours, after which he would take more. Eminem's weight increased to 230 lb and he was regularly eating fast food: "The kids behind the counter knew me—it wouldn't even faze them. Or I'd sit up at Denny's or Big Boy and just eat by myself. It was sad." Eminem became less recognizable due to his weight gain and once overheard two teenagers arguing about whether or not it was him: "Eminem ain't fat."
The week before the 2020 presidential election, Eminem approved his song "Lose Yourself" to be used in a campaign video for Joe Biden. After the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Eminem posted a tweet to his Twitter expressing his displeasure for the decision saying "As a father it pisses me off that women have fewer rights 2day than just a few days ago… we r fuckin goin bckwards. Here's how 2 help in Michigan. [sic]" and included a link to a pro-choice organization in Michigan. In 2023, he requested that Republican election candidate Vivek Ramaswamy stop rapping his song "Lose Yourself" at campaign rallies, sending Ramaswamy a cease and desist letter.
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| Husband | Kimberly Anne Scott (m. 1999-2001) (m. 2006-2006) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Eminem's net worth is estimated to be around $250 million. His annual earnings can vary significantly, typically ranging from $20 million to $50 million, especially during touring years. His total career earnings are believed to approach $420 million.
In 2003, Eminem, a lifelong fan of Tupac, provided production work for three tracks on the Tupac Resurrection soundtrack. He would follow this up the next year by producing 12 of the 16 tracks on Tupac's Loyal to the Game album. 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. 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.
A deluxe edition of the album, titled Music to Be Murdered By – Side B, was released on December 18, 2020. Similar to Eminem's previous two albums, it was released without any prior announcement, containing a bonus disc with sixteen new tracks. The album's release was accompanied by a music video for "Gnat", directed by Cole Bennett. Lyric videos for "Alfred's Theme" and "Tone Deaf" were also released, in the latter song Mathers pays tribute to the late Chicago rapper King Von. Music to Be Murdered By – Side B debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 3, with 70,000–80,000 album-equivalent units, including 25,000–30,000 in pure album sales. In the track "Zeus", he apologizes to Rihanna over a leaked song from his Relapse studio sessions in which he sided with Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty to felony assault involving her in 2009.
In July 2023, Eminem's Shady Records signed Ez Mil in a direct joint deal with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. On August 4, 2023, Ez Mil released the song "Realest", featuring Eminem. In the song, Eminem responded to Melle Mel, who had claimed that Eminem is considered a top-five rapper of all time only because he is white. On November 3, Eminem released The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (Expanded Edition), marking the 10th anniversary of its original release. The album includes all the original tracks, plus "Don't Front", featuring Buckshot, which was a bonus track for anyone who ordered the Call of Duty: Ghosts and the album bundle. It was also a bonus track on the Best Buy version of the Shady XV compilation album. The expanded edition of MMLP2 also includes instrumentals of all the singles of the albums: "Survival", "Berzerk", "The Monster" (featuring Rihanna), "Rap God", and "Headlights".
Career, Business, and Investments
Eminem's career has been marked by numerous milestones:
- Music Success: He has sold over 220 million albums worldwide and won more than 15 Grammy Awards, including an Academy Award for "Lose Yourself".
- Founding of Shady Records: Eminem co-founded Shady Records, which has launched the careers of notable artists like 50 Cent.
- Touring and Live Performances: Tours like "The Rapture Tour" have generated hundreds of millions in revenue.
- Business Investments: He has invested in various startups and business ventures, contributing to his substantial wealth.
Eminem is among the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of over 220 million records. He was the first musical act to have ten albums consecutively debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, and has had five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. He is one of the highest-certified music artists in the United States, with three of his albums and four of his singles being certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Eminem's accolades include 15 Grammy Awards, eight American Music Awards, 17 Billboard Music Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Billboard named him the Artist of the Decade (2000s) and Rolling Stone ranked him among the greatest artists and greatest songwriters of all time.
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). 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", and Steve Harvey (who said, "Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back"). "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." 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. In 2007, Jackson and Sony bought Famous Music from Viacom, giving him the rights to songs by Eminem, among other artists.
On August 14, 2012, "Survival", featuring Liz Rodrigues and produced by DJ Khalil, premiered in the multi-player trailer for the video game Call of Duty: Ghosts. According to a press release, the first single from Eminem's eighth album would be released soon. During the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, it was announced that the album would be entitled The Marshall Mathers LP 2. Its lead single, "Berzerk", was released on August 25 and debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album was released on November 5, by Aftermath Entertainment, Shady Records and Interscope Records. Its standard version had 16 tracks and the deluxe version included a second disc with five additional tracks. The Marshall Mathers LP 2 was Eminem's seventh album to debut atop the Billboard 200 and had the year's second-largest first-week sales. He was the first artist since the Beatles to have four singles in the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, The Marshall Mathers LP 2 debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. The first American artist with seven consecutive UK number-one albums, he is tied with the Beatles for second place for the most consecutive chart-topping UK albums. The album secured Eminem's position as Canada's bestselling artist and was 2013's bestselling album.
On August 31, 2018, Eminem released his tenth studio album and first surprise album Kamikaze, making it his second full-length studio album in eight months. The album topped the Billboard 200, making it his ninth album in a row to do so, after selling 434,000 units in the first week. The album was released as a response to criticism of Revival, his worst rated album. The album was promoted with three singles: "Fall", "Venom" from the 2018 film of the same name, and "Lucky You". During the October 15, 2018, episode of the late-night television show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Eminem performed the song "Venom" at the 103rd floor of the Empire State Building in New York City as a promotion of the album.
Eminem uses alter egos in his songs for different rapping styles and subject matter, including Slim Shady and Ken Kaniff, among others. Throughout his career, he has had highly publicized lyrical feuds with many recording artists.
Social Network
Eminem maintains a relatively private public image, but he is active on music platforms where his tracks are available. He rarely engages publicly through traditional social media channels, preferring to focus on his music and career.
Eminem began his first U.S. concert tour in three years in the summer of 2005 with the Anger Management 3 Tour, 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". Meanwhile, industry insiders speculated that Eminem was considering retirement, while rumors circulated that a double album titled The Funeral would be released. 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. A greatest hits album, Curtain Call: The Hits, was released on December 6, 2005, by Aftermath Entertainment, and sold nearly 441,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week, marking Eminem's fourth consecutive number-one album on the Billboard Hot 200, and was certified double platinum by the RIAA. 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."
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. He 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." Interscope confirmed that a new album would be released in spring 2009.
In 2010, Eminem again began collaborating with Royce da 5'9" on their first EP as Bad Meets Evil; the duo formed in 1998. The EP, Hell: The Sequel, was released on June 14, 2011. Eminem was featured on Royce da 5'9s "Writer's Block", released on April 8, 2011. On May 3 they released the lead single "Fast Lane" from their upcoming EP and a music video was filmed. In March 2011, within days of each other, The Eminem Show and The Marshall Mathers LP were certified diamond by the RIAA; Eminem is the only rapper with two diamond-certified albums. With more than 60 million "likes" he was the most-followed person on Facebook. Eminem was the first artist in five years with two number-one albums (Recovery and Hell: The Sequel) in a 12-month period. Early in 2011 he leaked "2.0 Boys", on which Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse collaborated when they signed with Shady Records in January and performed it in April. Bad Meets Evil released their next single, "Lighters", on July 6 and its music video in late August. On August 6, Eminem performed several songs from throughout his career at Lollapalooza with the artists who had been featured on each song.
On November 3, Eminem was named the first YouTube Music Awards Artist of the Year, and a week later he received the Global Icon Award at the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards. On June 10, it was announced that Eminem was the first artist to receive two digital diamond certifications—sales and streams of 10 million and above—by the RIAA (for "Not Afraid" and "Love the Way You Lie"). On July 11 and 12, Eminem played two concerts in Wembley Stadium. At the 57th Grammy Awards, he received Best Rap Album award for The Marshall Mathers LP 2 and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (with Rihanna) for "The Monster".
In the summer of 2014, Eminem and Rosenberg began using the hashtag #SHADYXV on social networking sites and Eminem wore a T-shirt with the hashtag onstage. This was later revealed to be the name of an upcoming Shady Records compilation. Shortly afterwards the first single from the album ("Guts Over Fear", featuring singer-songwriter Sia) was released and the album's track list was released on October 29. Shady Records released a cypher to promote the album, in which Eminem did a seven-minute freestyle. Shady XV, released on November 24 during Black Friday week, consists of one greatest-hits disc and one disc of new material by Shady Records artists such as D12, Slaughterhouse, Bad Meets Evil and Yelawolf. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 138,000 copies in the United States. The Official Eminem Box Set, a career-spanning, 10-disc vinyl box set, was released on March 12, 2015. The set includes seven of Eminem's eight studio albums (excluding Infinite), the 8 Mile soundtrack, the compilation Eminem Presents: The Re-Up and the greatest hits collection Curtain Call: The Hits.
On December 1, Eminem released an 11 minute freestyle to his YouTube channel titled 'Kick off'. Eminem collaborated with several artists throughout early 2019, including Boogie, Logic, Ed Sheeran, 50 Cent and Conway the Machine. On February 23, 2019, to celebrate its 20th anniversary, Eminem released a re-issue of The Slim Shady LP, including acapellas, instrumentals and radio edited versions of tracks from the album.
The lyrics of "Unaccommodating", in which Eminem referenced the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, drew significant criticism, with many critics finding the lyrics objectionable. The mayor of Manchester denounced the song's lyrics, describing them as "unnecessarily hurtful and deeply disrespectful". The lyrics also drew widespread criticism from victims' relatives and others involved in the attack. On February 9, 2020, Mathers performed "Lose Yourself" at the 92nd Academy Awards. On March 9, 2020, the music video for the song "Godzilla" was released on YouTube through Lyrical Lemonade's channel. As of October 8, 2022, the music video has over 691.7 million views. On March 11, 2020, Music to Be Murdered By was certified Gold. On July 9, 2020, Kid Cudi's daughter Vada announced via social media that he was releasing a song with Eminem called "The Adventures of Moon Man & Slim Shady" the coming Friday.
Eminem is considered unusual in structuring his songs around the lyrics, rather than writing to beats. One exception was "Stan", which came from an idea and scratch track produced by the 45 King. After doing little production on Relapse and Recovery, Eminem produced a significant portion of The Marshall Mathers LP 2. He said about producing his own music, "Sometimes, I may get something in my head, like an idea or the mood of something that I would want, and I'm not always gonna get that by going through different tracks that other people have made. They don't know what's in my head. I think maybe it helps, a little bit, with diversity, the sound of it, but also, I would get something in my head and want to be able to lay down that idea from scratch." In 1998 when his beef with rapper Cage was still happening, New York rapper Necro (who had previously produced three songs for Cage) met Eminem and gave him a CD with the beat to what eventually became the beat for the song "Black Helicopters" by rap group Non-Phixion. Despite Eminem never using it, Necro still said positive things about Eminem and would appear on Shade45 years later.
"Eminem is even starting to bear a resemblance to one of those rock icons ... Marshall Mathers is becoming something like this generation's John Lennon ... Lennon and Eminem were both subjects of pickets and protests; they both wrote songs about troubled relationships with their mothers; they both wrote about their strange public lives with their wives; they both wrote about how much they loved their kids. Lennon, of course, was able to find ways to use his voice to advocate for peace rather than just blasting away at litigious family members and various pop stars, but still, few other pop musicians since Lennon have found a way to render their private psychodramas into compelling art as effectively as Eminem."
Regarding his rehearsal with Eminem for the "Stan" duet at the 2001 Grammy Awards, English singer Elton John said, " [When] Eminem made his entrance, I got goose bumps, the likes of which I have not felt since I first saw Jimi Hendrix, Mick Jagger, James Brown and Aretha Franklin. Eminem was that good. I just thought, 'Fuck, this man is amazing'. There are very few performers who can grab you like that the first time—only the greats." John further praised Eminem, saying, "Eminem is a true poet of his time, someone we'll be talking about for decades to come. He tells stories in such a powerful and distinctive way. As a lyricist, he's one of the best ever. Eminem does for his audience what [Bob] Dylan did for his: He writes how he feels. His anger, vulnerability and humor come out." Bob Dylan praised Eminem in a 2022 interview with The Wall Street Journal.
In December 2007, Eminem was hospitalized after a methadone overdose. He had first bought from a dealer who had told him it was "just like Vicodin, and easier on [your] liver". He continued to buy more until he collapsed in his bathroom one night and was rushed to the hospital. Doctors there told him he had ingested the and was. After missing Christmas with his children, Hailie, Alaina and Stevie, Eminem checked himself out of the facility, weak and not fully detoxed. He tore the meniscus in his knee after falling asleep on his sofa, requiring surgery; after he returned home, he had a seizure. His drug use "ramped right back to where it was before" within a month. Eminem began to attend church meetings to get clean, but after he was asked for autographs he sought help from a rehabilitation counselor. He began an exercise program that emphasized running. Elton John was a mentor during this period, calling Eminem once a week to check on him. Eminem has been sober since April 20, 2008.
Eminem endorsed Kamala Harris during the 2024 United States presidential election. In October, he spoke at a Huntington Place rally supporting her, where he discussed the importance of voting in a swing state like Michigan and his belief that Harris "supports a future for this country" in which freedom of expression is protected.
With global sales of over 220 million records, Eminem is one of the best-selling music artists ever. He has had thirteen number-one albums on the Billboard 200: nine solo, two with D12 and one with Bad Meets Evil. He was the bestselling music artist from 2000 to 2009 in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan. He was also the bestselling male music artist in the United States of the 2010s. He has sold 47.4 million albums in the country and 107.5 million singles in the US. The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, Curtain Call: The Hits, "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). Eminem has over ten billion views of his music videos on his YouTube Vevo page, and in 2014 Spotify named him the most-streamed music artist ever.
Education
Eminem attended Lincoln High School in Warren, Michigan, but dropped out at the age of 17. Despite this, he went on to achieve immense success in the entertainment industry through his talent and perseverance.
In April 2020, Matthew David Hughes, a 26-year-old man, broke into Eminem's house in Clinton Township, Macomb County, Michigan, breaking a kitchen window with a brick paver. Eminem woke up with Hughes standing behind him and Hughes said that he was there to kill Eminem. Hughes was charged with multiple offences; his defense attorney opined that he seemed to be suffering from "mental issues". In a plea agreement in 2021, Hughes pleaded guilty to second-degree home invasion in exchange for dismissal of other charges; he was sentenced to probation and time served (524 days in the county jail). In 2019, Hughes had pleaded guilty to breaking into a Rochester Hills home in search of Eminem. On August 30, 2023, it was revealed that the perpetrator of the 2023 Jacksonville shooting Ryan Palmeter in his manifesto, denounced Eminem and Machine Gun Kelly for their involvement in rap, prior to committing a racially-motivated shooting.
