Rapper, actor and music producer Eminem is one of the best-selling musicians of the 21st century and one of the most influential rappers of all time.

Born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in 1972 in Missouri, Eminem had a turbulent childhood. He dropped out of school in the ninth grade and worked odd jobs until finally making it as a rapper upon the release of The Slim Shady LP in early 1999. The album went multi-platinum, garnering Eminem two Grammy Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards.

In 2000, Eminem released The Marshall Mathers LP, which was noted as the fastest-selling album in rap history. Two years later, he delivered the Academy Award-winning song "Lose Yourself," from the semi-autobiographical drama 8 Mile.

In 2010, he released the Grammy-winning album Recovery, a highly autobiographical attempt to come to terms with his struggles with addiction and experience with rehabilitation.

The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013) also garnered numerous accolades, and the rapper later followed with Revival (2017), Kamikaze (2018) and Music to Be Murdered By (2020).

Early Life and Education

Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Eminem's mother never managed to hold down a job for more than several months at a time, so they moved frequently between Missouri and Detroit, Michigan, spending large chunks of time in public housing projects.

"I would change schools two, three times a year," Eminem later recalled. "That was probably the roughest part about it all."

This itinerant lifestyle left a large impact on his personality. He had no close friends, kept almost entirely to himself and was treated like an outcast at each new school. "Beat up in the bathroom, beat up in the hallways, shoved into lockers," he remembered.

Eminem attended Lincoln High School in Warren, Michigan, where he failed the ninth grade three times and eventually dropped out at the age of 17. Yet despite being a poor student, Eminem always had a deep affinity for language, devouring comic books and even studying the dictionary.

"I found that no matter how bad I was at school, like, and no matter how low my grades might have been at some times, I always was good at English ... I just felt like I wanna be able to have all of these words at my disposal, in my vocabulary at all times whenever I need to pull 'em out. You know, somewhere, they'll be stored, like, locked away."

Ex-Wife and Daughter

Eminem was just 15 when he met 13-year-old Kim Ann Scott at a house party. Kim, who claimed that she didn't know her father and had been sexually abused by her stepfather, came to live with Eminem and his mother Deborah.

Eminem and Kim soon began dating, but their relationship was turbulent from the start. Deborah threw the couple out when Eminem dropped out of school. In 1995, the couple had a daughter named Hailie Jade Scott. The couple broke up and got back together many times, finally marrying just before Eminem left on his first major tour in 1999. They divorced in 2000.

Kim and Eminem continued to maintain a tumultuous off-and-on relationship until remarrying in 2006, then divorcing again several months later. Following their second divorce, the exes began a protracted, ugly and highly public custody dispute over their daughter Hailie.

Eminem has rapped about Hailie throughout his career, including on the 2004 song "Mockingbird" and throughout his 2017 album Revival. Hailie graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in psychology and has become an Instagram influencer.

Rap Career

As a teenage dropout, Eminem found a way to express his passion for language, as well as to release his youthful anger, through the emerging musical genre of hip-hop. He assumed the stage name M&M, a playful reference to his initials, which he later began writing phonetically as "Eminem."Eminem identified with the nihilistic rage of late-1980s and early-1990s rap music, and he was especially taken with N.W.A., the popular and highly controversial gangster rap crew from Los Angeles.

Although at the time rap music was almost exclusively produced by Black people, Eminem, who has pale white skin and bright blue eyes, nevertheless entered into the Detroit rap scene as a frequent competitor in rap "battles"—competitions in which two rappers take turns insulting the other through improvised rap lyrics. Eminem proved highly skilled at such verbal sparring and, despite his race, quickly became one of the most respected figures in Detroit's underground rap scene.

He recalled, "I finally found something that yeah, this kid over here, you know, he may have more chicks, and he may, you know, have better clothes, or whatever, but he can't do this like me. You know what I mean? He can't write what I'm writing right now. And it started to feel like, you know, maybe Marshall's gettin' a little respect."

This period in Eminem's life—working odd jobs to make ends meet while participating in rap battles and desperately attempting to land a record contract—was later dramatized in Eminem's semi-autobiographical film from 2002, 8 Mile.

Eminem went on to become one of the most acclaimed rappers in the genre's brief history. As much as any other individual artist, he is responsible for rap's transformation into a mainstream music genre.

Albums and Songs

'Infinite' (1996)
Inspired by the birth of his daughter Hailie to make a living as a rapper, Eminem released his first independent rap album, Infinite, in 1996.

Though the album displayed flashes of his verbal prowess, biting wit and flair for storytelling, the low-budget record failed to turn a profit or attract more than local attention.

'The Slim Shady EP' (1997) & 'The Slim Shady LP' (1999)
In 1997 Eminem released The Slim Shady EP, which was discovered by Dr. Dre, the legendary rapper and former producer of Eminem's favorite rap group N.W.A.

After Eminem traveled to Los Angeles and became runner-up in the 1997 Rap Olympics MC Battle, Dre listened to the rapper's cassette in the basement of executive Jimmy Iovine's home. Dre was so impressed that he signed Eminem to his Interscope Records label. In 1999, after two years of working with Dre, Eminem released The Slim Shady LP.

The heavily hyped record became an instant success, going on to sell over three million copies. Eminem's first single, "My Name Is," mixed a childish humor and energy with rampant profanity and flashes of violence — a potent and fascinating combination that felt different from anything else in rap.

'The Marshall Mathers LP' (2000)
Eminem released his second studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP, in May 2000. The album showed off Eminem's poetic talents as well as his emotional and artistic range. His songs vary from manically funny ("The Real Slim Shady") to heartbreakingly poignant ("Stan") to explosively violent ("Kim") to disarmingly self-critical ("The Way I Am").

The Marshall Mathers LP sold over 19 million copies worldwide, won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, received a nomination for Album of the Year and is widely considered among the greatest rap albums of all time.

Nevertheless, The Marshall Mathers LP also came under a firestorm of criticism for its excessive profanity, glorification of drugs and violence and its apparent homophobia and misogyny.

While Eminem attempted to mitigate such criticism by maintaining that his raps simply use the rough language he has been surrounded by since childhood, and later by performing a duet with Elton John at the 2001 Grammy Awards to demonstrate his openness to the gay community, Eminem nevertheless remains reviled in some quarters for his offensive lyrical content.

'Devil's Night' (2001)
In 2001, Eminem reconnected with several of his friends from the Detroit underground rap scene to form the group D12, recording an album called Devil's Night featuring the popular single "Purple Pills."

'The Eminem Show' (2002)
In 2002, Eminem released a new solo album, The Eminem Show, another popular and critically acclaimed album highlighted by the tracks "Without Me," "Cleaning Out my Closet" and "Sing for the Moment."

That same year, the artist was all over the airwaves with the 8 Mile track "Lose Yourself," which went on to win an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

'Encore' (2004)
Eminem's next album, 2004's Encore, was less successful than his previous efforts. It still featured popular songs such as "Like Toy Soldiers" and "Mockingbird."

For the next several years, Eminem recorded very little music and was largely consumed by personal problems. Following his second divorce from Kim in 2006, Eminem slipped further into alcoholism and addiction to sleeping pills and prescription painkillers. In December 2007, he overdosed and nearly died. "If I would have got to the hospital two hours later, that would have been it," he said.

'Relapse' (2009)
By early 2008, Eminem had managed to kick his addictions to drugs and alcohol and returned to recording music. He released his first album of new music in five years, Relapse, in 2009, featuring the singles "Crack a Bottle" and "Beautiful."

'Recovery' (2010)
In 2010, Eminem released another album, Recovery, a highly autobiographical attempt to come to terms with his struggles with addiction and experience with rehabilitation. His most acclaimed album in years, Recovery struck a somewhat gentler and more inspirational tone than his previous music, with the popular song "Love the Way You Lie."

Eminem said, "I don't want to go overboard with it but I do feel like that if I can help people that have been through a similar situation, then, you know, why not?" The revealing album won Eminem a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

After 10 years and seven albums, the rapper who shocked, appalled and fascinated the music world with the unbridled rage of his youthful music is reinventing himself as a mature artist.

"I started learning how to not be so angry about things, learning how to count my f---ing blessings instead. By doing that, I've become a happier person, instead of all this self-loathing I was doing for a while," Eminem said. "The music, I wouldn't say it's gotten happier, but it's definitely more upbeat. I feel like myself again."

'MMLP2' (2013)
Eminem released his eighth album, MMLP2, on November 5, 2013. The announcement for the future Grammy-winning album, formally titled The Marshall Mathers LP 2, was made during the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.

On the awards show, Eminem leaked a snippet of the first single from the album, entitled "Berzerk." He went to reach of the top of charts with "The Monster," a track that also featured Rihanna and earned a Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

'Shady XV' (2014)
In 2014, Eminem celebrated the 15th anniversary of his Shady Records label with a special two-CD set called ShadyXV. The collection features the label's most popular songs as well as some new material. The single "Guts Over Fear" quickly rose up the charts after its late October debut.

'Revival' (2017)
At the end of 2017, Eminem released his ninth studio album, Revival. Its first two singles, "Walk on Water" and "River," featured collaborations with pop superstars Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran.

The album as a whole divided critics and failed to garner the accolades notched by his previous efforts. None of the songs reached the Top 10 on the Billboard 100, while each of his three previous albums resulted in at least one No. 1 hit.

'Kamikaze' (2018)
While nearly four years passed between Eminem's eighth and ninth albums, fans only had to wait a few months before he dropped his next studio effort, Kamikaze, on August 31, 2018.

The surprise album kicked off with "Ringer," which featured the rapper diving right back into his disdain for President Donald Trump. In October 2017, Eminem had made headlines for a freestyle segment taped for the BET Hip Hop Awards, in which he ripped into Trump.

The single "Not Alike" attacked rapper Machine Gun Kelly, known as MGK, for lewd comments he had made several years before about Eminem's then-underage daughter, Hailie. After MGK replied with the track "Rap Devil," Eminem followed up with the single "Killshot," a barrage of insults about MGK's talents and lack of success, which shot to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The album helped Eminem rebound from Revival. However, beyond the album's successes, Eminem was criticized for homophobic insults on the tracks "Killshot" and “Fall.”
'Music to Be Murdered By' and 'Music to Be Murdered By – Side B' (2020)
As with Kamikaze, Eminem dropped Music to Be Murdered By with no advance warning in January 2020. The 20-track album was accompanied by the release of a video for "Darkness," which recalled the deadly mass shooting at the 2017 Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas and urged viewers to vote to change gun laws.

The following month, the rapper made a surprise appearance at the Academy Awards to perform his winner from the 2003 ceremony, "Lose Yourself."

In December 2020, the rapper released the follow-up album, Side B.

Major Controversies:

• At the age of 20, Eminem spent time in jail after being charged with firing a paintball gun at a running car. The matter was dropped because the victim failed to appear in court.
• He was charged with ripping off the underground rapper "Cage" in terms of both style and lyrical content.
• He got into controversy because he insulted his Mother and others in his song "The genuine skinny shady." He was sued for $10 million by his Mother, who only got $1600 in compensation.
• His song "Just lose it" and its accompanying music video attracted criticism for insulting Michael Jackson.
• After a fight with Douglas Dail in the audio store, he was jailed for showing the pistol.
• He was arrested the next day for attacking bouncer John Guerrera after he kissed his wife, Kim.
• Kim, Eminem's wife, attempted suicide by cutting her wrists and then filed a harassment lawsuit against him.
• The Ontario Attorney General caused the M&M concert at Toronto's Skydome to be postponed.
• "I don't want anyone coming to Canada who will come here and encourage violence against women," said General Jim Flaherty.
• DeAngelo Bailey, a sanitation worker, sued Eminem after claiming that the rapper had portrayed his image in "Brain Damage" in a destructive manner.
  He had been given a year's probation for weapon charges in June 2001 when he got into a fight with a Psychopathic Records worker.
• For stealing his rhythm from the instrumental "Pulsion," which they utilized for the song "Kill You," Jacques Loussier sued Eminem and Dr Dre for $10 million. Later, the dispute was resolved.
• In 2007, Eminem's firm, "Eight Mile Style," filed a claim against Apple Inc. and Aftermath Entertainment, accusing them of striking an agreement to sell the rights to Eminem's 93 songs on iTunes. Additionally, he filed a complaint against Aftermath, demanding 50% of the royalties from licensing Eminem's songs to other businesses.
• In 2008, Hotstylz filed an $8 million claim against Eminem for exploiting their 25-second sample without giving them credit or payment.

Some Surprising Information About Eminem:

• Eminem does not smoke.
• Eminem does not consume alcohol.
• EMINEM is written as EMINM in stylized form.
• Rolling Stone gave Eminem the nickname "the King of Hip Hop" and ranked him 83rd among the 100 most outstanding musicians.
• Ten of his albums were included on the Billboard 200 and sold 172 million copies worldwide. He has the most successful career in hip-hop.
• Eminem not only won the Grammy for Best Rap Album in 1999, but he also won awards for his next two albums, "The Marshall Mathers LP" (2000) and "The Eminem Show" (2002).
• After the 2004 release of Encore, he took a break until releasing the albums Relapse (2009) and Recovery (2010).
• Both Relapse and The Eminem Show had the year's highest album sales.
• Eminem won two Grammys for "The Marshall Mathers LP 2," including "Best Rap Album," bringing his total number of Grammys to 15.
• When Eminem's song "Lose Yourself" for the hip-hop film "8 Mile" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, he made history as the first rap artist to accomplish so.
• When he was a child, Eminem and his Mother would sometimes travel between Missouri and Michigan. They sometimes stayed with relatives and could never stay in one spot for more than a year.
• The letters Eminem sent to his Father were always returned with the instruction to "Return to Sender."
• Both at school and in the community, he was abused. De'Angelo Bailey once seriously hurt him. Debbie filed a complaint against the school, but it was rejected.
• Eminem was physically assaulted by other black children while living in a lower-middle-class area in Detroit. Only three white families lived there, including theirs. When he was nine, he spent many days in a coma.
• Eminem preferred reading to listening to music and aspired to be a comic book creator. Eminem first heard a rap song when Ronnie Polkinghorn, the half-brother of Debbie, gave him a CD.
• Later on, he also learned music from Ronnie Polkinghorn. When Ronnie Polkinghorn killed himself in 1991, Eminem was silent for several days and skipped the burial.
• The social worker said his Mother was "distrustful and paranoid" and that Eminem's early years were not very stable. She permitted Kimberly Scott to accompany her.
• Due to his poor attendance and performance, Mathew Mathers spent three years in the 9th standard school. Following the three years, he left.
  He says his Mother still kicked him out despite working many jobs to help the family. When Eminem's Mother was gone playing bingo, Eminem would play the music and compose tunes.
• At 14, Eminem and several of his neighbourhood friends started rapping on the streets. They would practice their rap battles by going into a school's lunchroom.
• He also went to Detroit's "zero-ground" open-mic rap contests.
• The white guy found rapping difficult as growing up in a predominantly black area-the white man was trying to succeed in the black people's world. However, the crowd enjoyed his music.
• Matthew Mathers is a left-handed person.
• He and Kim were robbed while living in a neighbourhood with a high crime rate. Eminem did cooking and dishwashing for a nearby restaurant named Gilbert's Lodge.
• After Hailie was born, he put in so much extra effort that he was praised as a model employee for working 60 hours per week.
• He claimed that it was five days before Christmas, Hailie's birthday when he was dismissed. I probably had about $40 to get her anything.
• After the publication of his debut album Infinite, he started abusing drugs, which-combined with his matters to an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
• He lived in a small house with his Mother after getting fired from the Gilbert's Lodge for the final time, along with his wife, Kim.
• Eminem participated in a rap battle at the New York Rap Olympics in 1997 after being kicked out of his home. He finished in second place, and the Interscope Records staff members that took his song to Dr Dre were in the crowd.
• After President Bush was re-elected, the song's music video's conclusion was modified.
• Recovery, the album by Eminem, is the one that has sold the most copies in recorded history. Just in the U.S., more than 3 million copies were sold.
• Two of his albums have been certified as diamonds, and only Eminem has this honour.
• With 60 million "likes," Eminem surpassed Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, and Michael Jackson on Facebook.
• Eminem's autobiography, The Way I am, also includes the original lyrics to his songs and details his battle for stardom and personal life.
• Eminem depended on sleeping drugs such as Vicodin, Ambien, and Valium. When he was working a 16-hour shift shooting his film 8 Mile, he was offered his first dose of Ambien. At the time, Eminem was experiencing sleeplessness, so someone suggested he take a sleeping pill.
• His drug addiction caused his weight to rise to 100 Kg (230 pounds), and he also started eating a lot of fast food.
• He never stops writing. Simply, Well, almost every time.
• Eminem began purchasing drugs from a dealer, and due to consuming too many drugs, he collapsed in his bathroom. He was taken to the hospital, where the staff informed him that he had taken enough drugs to equal four bags of heroin and was only two hours from passing away.
• Due to his inability to perform the original uncut version, he declined to perform at the Oscars.
• He started visiting worship services to stop using drugs, but he eventually stopped because he was sick of signing autographs. In April 2008, he started a jogging fitness routine and quit drinking.
• Due to the use of his song "Lose Yourself" in an Audi 6 advertisement from 2012, Eminem claimed Audi.
• Between 2000 and 2010, Nielsen SoundScan reports that he was the best-selling artist.

Awards And Important Events:

Eminem has received many awards and accomplishments. Some of them are mentioned below.

15- Grammy Awards
8- American Music Awards
17- Billboard Award
Academy Award as of this writing (for best song "Lose Yourself" - from the 8 Mile soundtrack).