Born
Marshall Bruce Mathers III
October 17, 1972 (age 43)
St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
Residence
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Other names
Double M M&M
Occupation
Rapper record producer songwriter actor
Years active
1992–present
Home town
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Spouse(s)
Kimberly Anne Scott (m. 1999–2001, 2006; divorced)
Children
3[1]
Musical career
Genres
Hip hop
Instruments
Vocals keyboards sampler drums
Labels
Aftermath Shady Interscope (current)
Bassmint Mashin' Duck Web Game (former)
Associated acts
Bad Meets Evil D12 Dr. Dre 50 Cent Lloyd Banks G-Unit Snoop Dogg Nate Dogg Lil Wayne Obie Trice Dina Rae Rihanna Royce Da 5'9" Skylar Grey Outsidaz
Website
eminem.com
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972),[2] known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor from Detroit, Michigan. In addition to his solo career, he is a member of D12 and (with Royce da 5'9") half of the hip-hop duo Bad Meets Evil. Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States. Rolling Stone ranked him 83rd on its list of 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, calling him the King of Hip Hop. Including his work with D12 and Bad Meets Evil, Eminem has had ten number-one albums on the Billboard 200. He has sold more than 172 million albums, making him one of the world's best-selling artists. As of June 2014, Eminem is the second-bestselling male artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era, the sixth-bestselling artist in the United States and the bestselling hip-hop artist, with sales of 45.1 million albums and 42 million tracks (including 31 million digital single certifications).
After his debut album Infinite (1996), Eminem achieved mainstream popularity in 1999 with his The Slim Shady LP, which earned him his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. His next two releases, 2000's The Marshall Mathers LP and 2002's The Eminem Show, were worldwide successes, with each being certified diamond in US sales and both winning Best Rap Album Grammy Awards—making Eminem the first artist to win the award for three consecutive LPs. They were followed by Encore in 2004, another critical and commercial success. Eminem went on hiatus after touring in 2005, releasing Relapse in 2009 and Recovery in 2010. Both won Grammy Awards and Recovery was the best-selling album of 2010 worldwide—the second time he had the international best-selling album of the year (after The Eminem Show). Eminem's eighth album, 2013's The Marshall Mathers LP 2, won two Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album; it expanded his record for the most wins in that category and his Grammy total to 15.
Eminem has developed other ventures, including Shady Records with manager Paul Rosenberg. He has his own channel, Shade 45, on Sirius XM Radio. In November 2002, Eminem starred in the hip hop film 8 Mile. He won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself", the first rap artist to win the award.[3] Eminem has made cameo appearances in the films The Wash (2001), Funny People (2009), The Interview (2014) and the television series Entourage.
Life and career
1972–91: Early life
Mathers was born on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri. He is the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr. (born June 30, 1951, and known as Bruce) and Deborah Rae Nelson (born January 6, 1955, and known as Debbie).[4][5][6] Eminem is of English, German, Scottish and Swiss descent.[7] Debbie was 14 when she met 18-year-old Bruce;[6] at age 17, she nearly died during her 73-hour labor.[8] Eminem's parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas-Montana border before their separation. Bruce left the family, moving to California[9] and having two other children: Michael and Sarah (born c. 1982).[10] Debbie later had a son, Nathan Kane Samara, born February 3, 1986 also known as Nate.[6] During his childhood Eminem and Debbie shuttled between Missouri and Michigan, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and living primarily with family members. In Missouri they lived in several places, including Saint Joseph, Savannah and Kansas City,[11] before settling in Warren, Michigan when Eminem was eleven.[9][12] As a teenager, Eminem wrote letters to his father; according to Debbie, all came back marked "Return to sender."[9] Friends and family remember Eminem as a happy child, but "a bit of a loner" who was often bullied. One bully, De'Angelo Bailey, severely injured Eminem in the head; Debbie Nelson filed a lawsuit against the school in 1982, which was dismissed the following year.[8]
Eminem spent much of his youth in a lower-middle-class, primarily African-American Detroit neighborhood.[9] He and Debbie were one of three white households on their block, and Eminem was beaten by African-American youths several times.[9] As a child he was interested in storytelling, aspiring to be a comic-book artist before discovering hip hop.[13] Eminem heard his first rap song ("Reckless", featuring Ice-T) at age nine on the Breakin' soundtrack, a gift from Debbie's half-brother Ronald (Ronnie) Polkinghorn. When Polkinghorn committed suicide ten years later, Eminem stopped speaking for days and did not attend his funeral.[9]
His home life was seldom stable; Eminem frequently fought with his mother, who was described by a social worker as having a "very suspicious, almost paranoid personality." When her son became famous Debbie bristled at suggestions that she was a less-than-ideal mother, contending that she sheltered him and was responsible for his success. In 1987, Debbie allowed runaway Kimberly Ann (Kim) Scott to stay at their home; several years later, Eminem began an on-and-off relationship with Kim.[8] After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades,[14] he dropped out of Lincoln High School at age 17. Although he was interested in English, he never explored literature (preferring comic books) and disliked math and social studies.[15] Eminem worked at several jobs to help his mother pay the bills, later maintaining that she often threw him out of the house anyway. When she left to play bingo, he would blast the stereo and write songs.[9]
At age 14, he began rapping with high-school friend Mike Ruby; they adopted the names "Manix" and "M&M," which evolved into "Eminem".[2][8] Eminem snuck into neighboring Osborn High School with friend and fellow rapper Proof for lunchroom freestyle rap battles.[16] On Saturdays they attended open-mic contests at the Hip-Hop Shop on West 7 Mile, considered ground-zero for the Detroit rap scene.[9] Struggling to succeed in a predominantly African-American industry, Eminem was appreciated by underground hip hop audiences.[2][17][18] 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.[15] Although the words often made little sense, the drill helped Eminem practice sounds and rhymes.[15]
1992–99: Early career, Infinite, and The Slim Shady
LP
As Eminem's reputation grew, he was recruited
by
Family
Eminem has been scrutinized, as a rapper and personally.[30] The rapper was married twice to Kimberly Anne (Kim) Scott. He met Kim in high school; he was 15 and she was 13 when he stood on a table with his shirt off rapping LL Cool J's "I'm Bad".[202] Kim and her twin sister, Dawn, 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 Kim in 1989. Their daughter, Hailie, was born on December 25, 1995; they married in 1999, divorcing in 2001. Although Eminem told Rolling Stone in 2002, "I would rather have a baby through my penis than get married again", he and Kim briefly remarried in January 2006. He filed for divorce in early April,[203] agreeing to joint custody of Hailie.[204] He has also adopted Alaina, Dawn's daughter and Whitney, Kim's daughter from another relationship.[205][206] In early 2010, Eminem denied tabloid reports that he and Kim had reconciled.[207] He had legal custody of his younger half-brother, Nathan who is also a rapper and is known by his stage name "Nate Kane".[208][209] In his 2014 song "Headlights", Eminem apologized to, and reiterated his love for, his mother.[210]
Legal problems
In 1999 Eminem's mother sued him for about $10 million for slandering her on The Slim Shady LP, receiving about $1,600 in damages in 2001.[211] Eminem was arrested on June 3, 2000 during an altercation with Douglas Dail at a car-audio store in Royal Oak, Michigan, when he pulled out an unloaded gun and pointed it at the ground. The next day, in Warren, Michigan, he was arrested for assaulting bouncer John Guerrera in the parking lot of the Hot Rock Café when he saw Guerrera kiss his wife.[212][213] Eminem recreated the Guerrera assault in "The Kiss (Skit)" on The Eminem Show. The rapper, charged with possession of a concealed weapon and assault, pled guilty and received two years' probation; Guerrera's assault charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement.[214] On July 7, 2000 Kim attempted suicide, slashing her wrists,[215] and later sued Eminem for defamation after he described her violent death in "Kim".[213]
On October 26, 2000, the rapper was scheduled to perform at Toronto's Skydome when Ontario Attorney General Jim Flaherty said that Eminem should not be allowed to enter the country. "I personally don't want anyone coming to Canada who will come here and advocate violence against women," he said. Flaherty said he was "disgusted" when he read the lyrics of "Kill You", which includes the lines "Slut, you think I won't choke no whore / Till the vocal cords don't work in her throat no more?" Although public reaction to Flaherty's position was generally negative, with barring Eminem from the country considered a free-speech issue, Liberal MPP Michael Bryant suggested that hate crime charges be brought against the rapper for advocating violence against women in his lyrics.[216] Robert Everett-Green wrote in a Globe and Mail editorial, "Being offensive is Eminem's job description",[217] and the rapper's Toronto concert went on as planned.[218]
Sanitation worker DeAngelo Bailey sued Eminem for $1 million in 2001, accusing him of invading his privacy by publicizing information placing him in a false light in "Brain Damage", a song which portrays him as a violent school bully. Although Bailey admitted picking on Eminem in school, he said he merely "bumped" him and gave him a "little shove". The lawsuit was dismissed on October 20, 2003; Judge Deborah Servitto, who rapped the verdict, ruled that it was clear to the public that the lyrics were exaggerated.[219]
On June 28, 2001, Eminem was sentenced to one year's probation and community service and fined about $2,000 on weapons charges stemming from an argument with an employee of Psychopathic Records.[220]
On March 31, 2002, French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier filed a $10 million lawsuit against Eminem and Dr. Dre, claiming that the beat for "Kill You" was from his instrumental "Pulsion".[
