Eminem is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclaimed as one of the greatest rappers of all time.
166 Facts About Eminem
2.
Eminem returned to the music industry four years later with the release of Relapse and Recovery was released the following year.
3.
Eminem made his debut in the film industry with the musical drama film 8 Mile, playing a fictionalized version of himself, and his track "Lose Yourself" from its soundtrack won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, making him the first hip hop artist ever to win the award.
4.
Eminem has made cameo appearances in the films The Wash, Funny People and The Interview and the television series Entourage.
5.
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.
6.
Eminem has established his own channel, Shade 45, on Sirius XM Radio.
7.
Eminem is among the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of over 220 million records.
8.
Eminem was the best-selling music artist in the United States of the 2000s and the best-selling male music artist in the United States of the 2010s, third overall.
9.
Eminem 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.
10.
In November 2022, Eminem was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
11.
Eminem is of Scottish, Welsh, English, Cherokee, German, Swiss, Polish, and possibly Luxemburgish ancestry.
12.
Eminem's father abandoned his family when he was a year and a half old, and Marshall was raised only by his mother, Debbie, in poverty.
13.
Eminem frequently fought with his mother, whom a social worker described as having a "very suspicious, almost paranoid personality".
14.
Eminem wrote letters to his father, but Debbie said that they all came back marked "return to sender".
15.
Eminem was interested in storytelling, aspiring to be a comic book artist before discovering hip hop.
16.
Eminem heard his first rap song on the Breakin' soundtrack, a gift from Debbie's half-brother Ronnie Polkingharn.
17.
Eminem's uncle was close to the boy and later became a musical mentor to him.
18.
When Polkingharn committed suicide in 1991, Eminem stopped speaking publicly for days and did not attend his funeral.
19.
Eminem sneaked into neighboring Osborn High School with friend and fellow rapper Proof for lunchroom freestyle rap battles.
20.
Several years later, Eminem began an on-and-off relationship with Scott.
21.
Eminem worked at several jobs to help his mother pay the bills.
22.
Eminem later said she often threw him out of the house anyway, often after taking most of his paycheck.
23.
Eminem made his first music video appearance in 1992 in a song titled, "Do-Da-Dippity", by Champtown.
24.
Eminem was affiliated with Newark's rap collective Outsidaz, collaborating with them on different projects.
25.
Detroit disc jockeys largely ignored Infinite and the feedback Eminem did receive led him to craft angrier, moodier tracks.
26.
Eminem cooked and washed dishes for minimum wage at Gilbert's Lodge, a family-style restaurant at St Clair Shores.
27.
Eminem attracted more attention when he developed Slim Shady, a sadistic, violent alter ego.
28.
Eminem 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.
29.
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.
30.
In July 2000, Eminem was the first white artist to appear on the cover of The Source.
31.
In 2000 Eminem appeared in the Up in Smoke Tour with rappers Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit and Ice Cube and the Family Values Tour with Limp Bizkit, headlining the Anger Management Tour with Papa Roach, Ludacris and Xzibit.
32.
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.
33.
The Eminem Show sold 27 million copies worldwide and was the best-selling album of 2002.
34.
Eminem would follow this up the next year by producing 12 of the 16 tracks on Tupac's Loyal to the Game album.
35.
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.
36.
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.
37.
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".
38.
Meanwhile, industry insiders speculated that Eminem was considering retirement, while rumors circulated that a double album titled The Funeral would be released.
39.
Eight months later, Eminem released a compilation album titled Eminem Presents: The Re-Up that featured Proof and other Shady Records artists.
40.
Eminem's act included several songs from Relapse, many of his older hits and an appearance by D12.
41.
Recovery was the best-selling album worldwide in 2010, joining 2002's best-seller The Eminem Show to give Eminem two worldwide year-end number-one albums.
42.
Eminem opened the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, performing "Not Afraid" and "Love the Way You Lie" with Rihanna singing the choruses.
43.
In December 2010, the "Great Eminem Recovery" was number one on Billboards Top 25 Music Moments of 2010.
44.
Eminem appeared at the 2011 Grammy Awards on February 13, performing "Love the Way You Lie " with Rihanna and Adam Levine and "I Need a Doctor" with Dr Dre and Skylar Grey.
45.
Eminem was featured on Royce da 5'9's "Writer's Block", released on April 8,2011.
46.
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.
47.
Eminem was the first artist in five years with two number-one albums in a 12-month period.
48.
Eminem announced on May 24,2012, that he was working on his next album, scheduled for release the following year.
49.
Eminem was the first artist since the Beatles to have four singles in the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100.
50.
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 EMA Music Awards.
51.
Shady Records released a cypher to promote the album, in which Eminem did a seven-minute freestyle.
52.
The Official Eminem Box Set, a career-spanning, 10-disc vinyl box set, was released on March 12,2015.
53.
Eminem appeared on Yelawolf's "Best Friend", the single from Love Story.
54.
Eminem is the executive producer of the soundtrack on the sports drama Southpaw, with Shady Records.
55.
Eminem was the first interview of Zane Lowe in Beats 1.
56.
Eminem appeared on the public access show Only in Monroe, produced in Monroe, Michigan and was interviewed by guest host Stephen Colbert for an episode that aired July 1,2015.
57.
In September 2016, Eminem was featured on Skylar Grey's song, "Kill For You", which appears on her album, Natural Causes.
58.
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.
59.
On November 17,2016, Eminem released a remastered version of 'Infinite' on his YouTube VEVO channel.
60.
On November 22,2016, Eminem released a trailer for a 10-minute short documentary called Partners in Rhyme: The True Story of Infinite.
61.
In February 2017, Eminem appeared on "No Favors", a track from Big Sean's album I Decided.
62.
Eminem ended the cypher by giving an ultimatum saying that Trump supporters cannot be his fans.
63.
In October 2017, Eminem appeared on "Revenge", a track from Pink's album Beautiful Trauma.
64.
Eminem collaborated with several artists throughout early 2019, including Boogie, Logic, Ed Sheeran, 50 Cent and Conway the Machine.
65.
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.
66.
On January 17,2020, Eminem released another surprise album Music to Be Murdered By.
67.
Subsequently, Eminem became the first artist to have ten consecutive albums debut at number one in the US and one of six artists to have released at least ten US number-one albums.
68.
The lyrics of "Unaccommodating", in which Eminem referenced the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, drew significant criticism, with many critics finding the lyrics objectionable.
69.
Eminem announced on September 28,2021, on his social media that he would be featured in a song with Polo G and Mozzy called "Last One Standing" by Skylar Grey for the soundtrack of the film, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, released on September 30,2021.
70.
Eminem performed alongside LL Cool J at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony on October 30,2021.
71.
On February 13,2022, Eminem performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show alongside Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J Blige, with surprise appearances from 50 Cent and Anderson.
72.
Eminem announced on May 23,2022, on his Instagram that he and CeeLo Green will collaborate on a new track titled "The King and I" which will be produced by Dr Dre and will appear on the Baz Luhrmann's Elvis movie soundtrack.
73.
Eminem announced his second greatest hits album on July 11,2022, entitled Curtain Call 2, which is a sequel to his first compilation Curtain Call: The Hits.
74.
Eminem was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
75.
Eminem was presented by Dr Dre and had special guest appearances by Aerosmith lead vocalist Steven Tyler and Ed Sheeran during his performance.
76.
Eminem has cited several MCs as influencing his rapping style, including Esham, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, Newcleus, Ice-T, Mantronix, Melle Mel, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Run-D.
77.
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".
78.
Eminem is known to write most of his lyrics on paper, taking several days or a week to craft lyrics, being a "workaholic" and "stacking" vocals.
79.
Examples of hip hop subgenres that Eminem's music has been described as include horrorcore, comedy hip hop, and hardcore hip hop.
80.
Eminem uses alter egos in his songs for different rapping styles and subject matter.
81.
Eminem's best-known alter ego, Slim Shady, first appeared on the Slim Shady EP and was in The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP, The Eminem Show, Encore, Relapse, The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Kamikaze and Music to Be Murdered By.
82.
Eminem downplayed Slim Shady on Recovery because he felt it did not fit the album's theme.
83.
Eminem rapped a verse in a live performance of Busta Rhymes' "Touch It" remix at the 2006 BET Music Awards.
84.
Eminem was the executive producer of D12's first two albums, Obie Trice's Cheers and Second Round's on Me and 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre.
85.
In 2004, Eminem was co-executive producer of 2Pac's posthumous album Loyal to the Game with Shakur's mother, Afeni.
86.
Eminem produced the UK number-one single "Ghetto Gospel", featuring Elton John; "The Cross", from the Nas album God's Son; and eight tracks on Obie Trice's 2006 album Second Round's on Me.
87.
Eminem produced several tracks on Trick-Trick's The Villain and produced four tracks on Cashis' 2013 album The County Hound 2.
88.
In 2022, Game would later release a ten-minute diss track towards Eminem titled "The Black Slim Shady".
89.
Eminem is considered unusual in structuring his songs around the lyrics, rather than writing to beats.
90.
Eminem signed his Detroit collective, D12 and rapper Obie Trice to the label and signed 50 Cent in a 2002 joint venture with Dr Dre's Aftermath label.
91.
In 2005 Eminem signed another Atlanta rapper, Bobby Creekwater and West Coast rapper Cashis to Shady Records.
92.
The project began as a mixtape, but when Eminem found the material better than expected he released it as an album.
93.
Eminem established his own channel, Shade 45, that plays uncut hip hop.
94.
Eminem promoted the station in a 2004 mock national convention at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, in which Donald Trump endorsed him.
95.
On his album Revival, Eminem expressed his regret at having collaborated with Trump, rapping, "wish I would have spit on it before I went to shake his hand at the event".
96.
Eminem said it was a representation of growing up in Detroit rather than an account of his life.
97.
Eminem recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself".
98.
Eminem was absent from the ceremony and co-composer Luis Resto accepted the award.
99.
Eminem had a cameo appearance, arguing with Ray Romano, in the 2009 film Funny People.
100.
Eminem played himself in the Entourage season-seven finale "Lose Yourself" with Christina Aguilera.
101.
Eminem had a cameo appearance as himself in the 2014 film The Interview.
102.
Eminem established the Marshall Mathers Foundation to aid disadvantaged youth.
103.
Eminem appeared in two commercials which were shown during Super Bowl XLV.
104.
On November 21,2000, Eminem published Angry Blonde, a non-fiction book featuring a commentary of several of his own songs, along with several previously unpublished photographs.
105.
An autobiography of Eminem's mother was published the following month, in which Debbie Nelson describes her childhood and adolescence, meeting Eminem's father and her son's rise to fame.
106.
Eminem has been scrutinized, both as a rapper and personality-wise.
107.
Eminem was twice married to Kimberly Anne Scott; he met Scott in high school while he stood on a table with his shirt off rapping LL Cool J's "I'm Bad".
108.
Eminem was given custody of his ex-sister-in-law Dawn's daughter, Scott's child from another relationship, and his younger half-brother Nathan.
109.
Eminem stated in 2002 that he had been dating singer Mariah Carey, though she later denied it.
110.
In early 2010, Eminem denied tabloid reports that he and Scott had renewed their romantic relationship; however, in the same statement, his representative confirmed that they now maintain a friendly relationship.
111.
Eminem has spoken publicly about his addiction to prescription drugs, including Vicodin, Ambien and Valium.
112.
In December 2007, Eminem was hospitalized after a methadone overdose.
113.
Eminem had first bought from a dealer who had told him it was "just like Vicodin, and easier on [your] liver".
114.
Eminem continued to buy more until he collapsed in his bathroom one night and was rushed to the hospital.
115.
Eminem tore the meniscus in his knee after falling asleep on his sofa, requiring surgery; after he returned home, he had a seizure.
116.
Eminem began to attend church meetings to get clean, but after he was asked for autographs he sought help from a rehabilitation counselor.
117.
Eminem woke up with Hughes standing behind him and he said that he was there to kill him.
118.
Eminem has expressed his political views in multiple songs; however, he has refrained from direct endorsements of politicians, focusing more on criticisms instead.
119.
Eminem has had lyrical feuds during his career with many recording artists, including Christina Aguilera, Chris Kirkpatrick, Machine Gun Kelly, Everlast, Cage, Insane Clown Posse, Will Smith, Miilkbone, Mariah Carey, Nick Cannon, Limp Bizkit, Benzino, Ja Rule, Vanilla Ice, Canibus, Jermaine Dupri, Joe Budden, Lord Jamar, and Charlamagne tha God.
120.
The feud began in 1997 when Eminem was throwing a party to promote his debut EP, Slim Shady EP.
121.
Eminem gave Joseph Bruce a flyer which stated "Featuring appearances by Esham, Kid Rock, and ICP ".
122.
Bruce asked why Eminem was promoting a possible Insane Clown Posse appearance without first contacting the group.
123.
Eminem took Bruce's response as a personal offense, subsequently attacking the group in radio interviews.
124.
Eminem insulted Insane Clown Posse on various tracks from his album The Marshall Mathers LP, including "Marshall Mathers" and "Ken Kaniff".
125.
In 2002, Eminem briefly dissed them on his single "Business" from The Eminem Show.
126.
Recently, things seem to have settled and Eminem has no longer been heard insulting Everlast or Limp Bizkit.
127.
Eminem titled the track "U Didn't Care" and it continued to take shots at Eminem.
128.
The track attacked Eminem's "street cred" and accused him of being a tool of the music industry.
129.
Eminem had been discovered by The Source after writer Rigo Morales featured him in the magazine's famed monthly "Unsigned Hype" column.
130.
The demo featured a song called "Foolish Pride", recorded in the late 1980s when Eminem claimed to have been "dumped" by his African-American then-girlfriend.
131.
Eminem responded with two tracks titled "Nail in the Coffin" and "The Sauce".
132.
Eminem later stated that the couple misinterpreted the track and it was wishing the two the best.
133.
However, Eminem responded in late July 2009 by releasing a track titled "The Warning".
134.
Eminem hinted that he had other evidence of their relationship in his possession.
135.
Eminem responded back with insulting Moby in "Without Me", the lead single off his next album The Eminem Show.
136.
In 2004, Moby praised Eminem for criticizing then-US president George W Bush in the song "Mosh", a track from Encore.
137.
Eminem had his first run-in with the law at age 20, when he was arrested for his involvement in a drive-by shooting with a paintball gun.
138.
On June 3,2000, Eminem was arrested 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.
139.
Eminem recreated the Guerra assault in "The Kiss " on The Eminem Show.
140.
Eminem pleaded guilty to possession of a concealed weapon and assault, receiving two years' probation; however, Guerra's assault charge was dropped as part of the plea agreement.
141.
On June 28,2001, Eminem was sentenced to one year's probation and community service and was fined about $2,000 on weapon charges stemming from an argument with an employee of Psychopathic Records.
142.
In 2006, Eminem was accused of assaulting Miad Jarbou, a resident of Royal Oak, Michigan, in the bathroom of a Detroit strip club, but was never charged.
143.
In 2007, Eminem's music-publishing company and Martin Affiliated sued Apple Inc and Aftermath Entertainment, claiming that Aftermath was not authorized to negotiate a deal with Apple for digital downloads of 93 Eminem songs on Apple's iTunes.
144.
Productions and Eminem were owed a royalty of 50 percent of Aftermath's net revenue from licensing his recordings to companies such as Apple, Sprint Corporation, Nextel Communications, Cingular and T-Mobile.
145.
In October 2013, Eminem sampled Chicago-based rap group Hotstylz's 2008 viral hit, "Lookin' Boy", for his 2013 hit single "Rap God".
146.
The group claims that Eminem did not receive permission to use the sample, nor did he credit or compensate them.
147.
In November 2013, Hotstylz released a diss track towards Eminem titled "Rap Fraud", where they sample several of his songs and criticize him for not crediting them.
148.
Some of Eminem's lyrics have been considered homophobic and an Australian politician attempted to ban him from the country.
149.
Eminem is a friend of gay singer Elton John, and publicly supports gay rights.
150.
On October 26,2000, Eminem 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.
151.
Eminem is one of the best-selling artists in music history, easily the biggest crossover success ever seen in rap.
152.
Eminem has been greatly influential for artists of various genres.
153.
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.
154.
Eminem tells stories in such a powerful and distinctive way.
155.
Eminem has had thirteen number-one albums on the Billboard 200: nine solo, two with D12 and one with Bad Meets Evil.
156.
Eminem was the best-selling music artist from 2000 to 2009 in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan.
157.
Eminem was the best-selling male music artist in the United States of the 2010s.
158.
Eminem has sold 47.4 million albums in the country and 107.5 million singles in the US.
159.
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 of all time.
160.
Eminem has been included and ranked in several publications' lists.
161.
Eminem was ranked 9th on MTV's Greatest MCs of All Time list.
162.
Eminem was ranked 13th on MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music list and 79th on the VH1 100 Greatest Artists of All Time lists.
163.
Eminem was ranked 82nd on Rolling Stones "The Immortals" list.
164.
In 2015, Eminem was placed third on "The 10 Best Rappers of All Time" list by Billboard.
165.
In 2011, Eminem was labelled 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.
166.
Eminem was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2022, alongside Duran Duran and Dolly Parton.