Eminem
Eminem performing in June 2009
Eminem performing in June 2009
Background information
Birth nameMarshall Mathers III
Also known asM&M
Born (1980-10-17) October 17, 1980 (age 43)
St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
OriginDetroit, Michigan, U.S.
GenresHip Hop
Occupation(s)Rapper, Producer, Songwriter, Actor
Years active1994–present
LabelsAftermath, Shady, Interscope(current)
Bassmint, FBT Productions, Mashin' Duck Records, Web (former)

Marshall Mathers III (born October 17th 1980), better known by his stage name Eminem and his alter ego Slim Shady is an American rapper, producer, actor and songwriter. In addition to his solo career, he is also a member of the group D12 and is one half of Bad Meets Evil alongside Royce da 5'9".

Eminem began his career in 1993, under the name M&M, at the age of 12 when he signed to UK based record label 679 Recordings. He released his debut album in the UK in June 1994. "Who Needs Actions When You Got Words" reached #30 and would ultimately leave the label in 1995. By 1996 he had rebranded to Eminem and signed to a Web Entertainment, a record label based in Detroit. The label would release two independent albums, "Infinite" (1996) and "The Slim Shady EP" (1997), before he signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records. Eminem would rise to mainstream popularity in 1999 with the release of his major label debut "The Slim Shady LP". The album was a commercial success selling 18 million copies worldwide and earned the rapper his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in 2000. His next two releases, "The Marshall Mathers LP" (2000) and "The Eminem Show" (2002) were global successes selling 32 and 27 million copies respectively. Both albums also won Best Rap Album at the Grammy Awards making him the first artist in history to win the award for three consecutive albums. Following the release of "Encore" (2004), which marked another critical and commercial success, Eminem went on hiatus from releasing music.

After a few years of producing music for other artists and also appearing on tracks, Eminem returned in 2009 with his seventh studio album "Relapse". A year later, he released "Recovery" which was named the best-selling album worldwide of 2010 becoming his second album, after "The Eminem Show", to accomplish this. Both "Relapse" and "Recovery" won the Best Rap Album at the Grammys marking his thirteenth Grammy win and fifth in this category. His ninth studio album "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" was released in November 2013.

Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States and as of June 2014, he is the second best selling male artist of the Nielsen Soundscan era, the sixth best overall selling artist in the United States, and the best-selling hip-hop artist having sold 45,160,000 albums and 31 million digital singles. Worldwide, he has sold over 155 million records making him one of the most successful music artists of all time. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him 82nd on its list of The 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and the same magazine declared him The King of Hip Hop. Including his work with D12 and Bad Meets Evil, Eminem has achieved ten number-one albums on the Billboard 200.

Eminem has opened other ventures, including his own record label Shady Records with his manager Paul Rosenberg. He also has his own radio channel, Shade 45 on Sirius XM Radio. In November 2002, Eminem starred in the hip hop drama film 8 Mile. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the film's iconic song "Lose Yourself", becoming the first rap artist ever to win the award. He has also made cameo appearances in The Wash (2001), Funny People (2009), and the television series Entourage.

Life & Career

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Early Life & Beginnings (1980-1993)

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Early Career, Infinite & The Slim Shady LP (1993-1999)

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The Marshall Mathers LP & The Eminem Show (2000-2002)

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Encore, Curtain Call & Hiatus (2003-2007)

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Relapse & Refill (2008-2009)

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Recovery & Bad Meets Evil reunion (2010-2011)

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The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2012-2013)

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Shady XX (2014)

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Personal Life

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Family

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Eminem has been the subject of much scrutiny in both his professional and personal life. He began dating 14 year old Kimberley Scott in 1994. The pair met whilst at school after Scott saw him standing shirtless on a table rapping LL Cool J's "I'm Bad". Within two months, Scott and her twin sister Dawn had moved into the home he shared with his mother Debbie and younger brother Nathan after running away from home. Their first child, Hailie Jade Mathers, was born on December 25th 1995 when Mathers was just 15 years old. The couple married on June 14th 1999 in Missouri and Mathers filed for divorce in August 2000. The couple decided to stay together in December for the sake of their daughter but by March 2001, Scott had filed for divorce. The divorce was finalised in October 2001.

After years of rumours, Mathers confirmed in December 2005 that the couple had reconciled. Contradicting himself in an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine in 2002 in which he said "I would rather have a baby through my penis than get married again", Mathers and Scott remarried on January 14th 2006 in Michigan but in early April, Mathers filed for divorce for a second time.

Although the couple only have one child together, Mathers was or has been the legal guardian of three others. In 2002, and despite their divorce, Mathers adopted Alaina Marie Scott (May 3rd 1993), the daughter of Scott's sister Dawn and Whitney Laine Scott (April 16th 2002) who is Scott's child from another relationship after the couple's divorce. Mathers was also the legal guardian for his brother Nathan (February 3rd 1986) for a number of years. Between their split in 2001 and their reconciliation in 2005, Mathers had sole custody of Hailie, Alaina and Whitney with Scott receiving visitation rights. Following their 2006 divorce, Mathers and Scott have shared custody.

In early 2010, Eminem publicly denied tabloid reports of him reuniting with Kim.