// The Eras
From 8 Mile to the Hall of Fame
Six acts. A trailer park kid who became the best-selling rapper of all time, nearly died, and came back.
1972 - 1998 . The Foundation
Marshall Mathers
A white kid from a Detroit trailer park who got booed at every open mic -- until they couldn't boo him anymore.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born in St. Joseph, Missouri. His father Marshall II left when he was a toddler. His mother Debbie moved them between Missouri and Detroit dozens of times. They settled on the east side of 8 Mile Road -- the wrong side. He was bullied relentlessly. At fourteen, he started rapping under the name M&M (later Eminem). He battled in Detroit's underground hip-hop scene, one of the only white faces in the room, getting booed and earning respect simultaneously. He failed ninth grade three times and dropped out. In 1996, he released "Infinite," which was largely ignored. In 1997, he placed second at the Rap Olympics in Los Angeles. An Interscope intern slid his demo to Jimmy Iovine, who gave it to Dr. Dre.
8 Mile Road
1986 - 1996 . Detroit, Michigan
Marshall Mathers grows up in a trailer park on the east side of Detroit. His mother Debbie is addicted to prescription pills. He changes schools constantly. He's beaten up by a kid named D'Angelo Bailey so badly he's hospitalized with a cerebral hemorrhage. He starts writing raps in a spiral notebook during lunch because it's the only time nobody hits him.
The Rap Olympics
1997 . Los Angeles
Eminem finishes second at the Rap Olympics freestyle competition in LA. He's devastated by the loss but an Interscope A&R intern grabs a copy of the "Slim Shady EP." It eventually reaches Dr. Dre's hands. Dre listens for 30 seconds and says: "Find him. Now." The white kid from Detroit just caught the attention of hip-hop's greatest producer.
Off Stage
Before Dre called, Eminem was working at a minimum-wage job at Gilbert's Lodge, a family restaurant in St. Clair Shores. He was a cook. He had a daughter, Hailie Jade, born in 1995. He was so poor that on the day before he got the Dre call, his electricity was shut off. He was twenty-five and had been rapping for eleven years with nothing to show for it.
1999 - 2000 . The Explosion
The Slim Shady LP / The Marshall Mathers LP
Two albums in two years that detonated American culture. Parents hated him. Kids worshipped him. Nobody could stop listening.
"The Slim Shady LP" dropped February 23, 1999, debuting at #2. "My Name Is" was inescapable -- a bleached-blonde alter ego rapping about drug abuse, violence, and his mother over a Dre beat that sounded like a carnival from hell. It sold over 5 million copies. Then, on May 23, 2000, "The Marshall Mathers LP" arrived. It sold 1.76 million copies in its first week -- the fastest-selling solo album in US history at the time. "The Real Slim Shady" and "Stan" (featuring Dido) became generation-defining tracks. GLAAD protested. Congress debated. Eminem's mother sued. He didn't care. He was the most controversial and best-selling musician on the planet.
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Billboard 200
1.76M First Week
The Marshall Mathers LP
May 23, 2000
The fastest-selling solo album in US history: 1.76 million copies in its first week. "Stan" introduces the concept of the obsessive fan -- the word literally enters the English dictionary. "The Way I Am" is pure rage. "Kim" is so violent that Kim Scott attempts suicide after hearing it. The album is a masterpiece and a cry for help simultaneously.
1.76M first week
11x platinum
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43rd Grammy Awards
Eminem + Elton John
February 21, 2001 . Staples Center
After GLAAD protests Eminem's homophobic lyrics, he performs "Stan" at the Grammys with Elton John. They hug at the end. GLAAD is furious. The performance is either a brilliant defusing of controversy or a cynical PR move -- the documentary presents both views. Elton later says Eminem called him privately to discuss the lyrics.
2002 - 2004 . The Empire
The Eminem Show / 8 Mile
He made a hit movie about his own life, won an Oscar, and became the best-selling artist of the 2000s. Then the pills started.
"The Eminem Show" dropped May 2002: "Without Me," "Cleanin' Out My Closet," "Sing for the Moment," "Lose Yourself." It sold 1.32 million in its first week. Then "8 Mile" the movie -- a semi-autobiographical film starring Eminem as B-Rabbit, a white rapper from Detroit's underground battle scene. "Lose Yourself" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Eminem wasn't at the ceremony -- he was asleep, watching cartoons with Hailie. He launched Shady Records and signed 50 Cent, whose "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" (produced by Dre and Em) debuted at #1 in 2003. But the pills were already taking hold. Vicodin. Valium. Ambien.
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75th Academy Awards
Oscar
"Lose Yourself" Wins Oscar
March 23, 2003
"Lose Yourself" wins Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. Eminem is the first hip-hop artist to win the award. He doesn't attend. He later says he was asleep at home, watching cartoons with Hailie. "I didn't think I had a chance of winning." Barbra Streisand reads his name from the envelope to a stunned audience.
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Domestic Box Office
$116M US
8 Mile
November 8, 2002
Curtis Hanson directs. Eminem stars as B-Rabbit, a fictionalized version of his younger self. The final battle rap scene -- where Rabbit dismantles his opponent by confessing his own vulnerabilities first -- becomes iconic. The film grosses $240 million worldwide. Critics who expected a vanity project are stunned. He can actually act.
Proof's Murder
April 11, 2006 . Detroit
DeShaun "Proof" Holton -- Eminem's best friend since childhood, D12 member, the man who introduced him to the Detroit battle scene -- is shot and killed at the CCC nightclub on 8 Mile Road. Eminem spirals. The pill consumption doubles. He later says he considered suicide. Proof's death is the emotional center of the documentary.
2005 - 2009 . The Dark Years
The Overdose
He was taking 60 Valium a night. His weight ballooned to 230 pounds. He nearly died in a bathroom, just like Elvis.
After Proof's murder, Eminem's pill addiction consumed him. Vicodin, Valium, Ambien, methadone. He was taking up to 20 pills of Vicodin a day. In December 2007, he overdosed on methadone in his bathroom. His organs were shutting down. Doctors told him he had ingested the equivalent of four bags of heroin. If he'd been found two hours later, he would have died. He weighed 230 pounds. He was unrecognizable. He went to rehab, relapsed, went back. He replaced the pills with running -- eventually running 17 miles a day on a treadmill. "Relapse" (2009) was the first album from the other side: still dark, still twisted, but sober.
The Overdose
December 2007 . Detroit
Eminem overdoses on methadone in his bathroom. He is found barely conscious. Doctors tell him his organs were within hours of failure. The methadone in his system was equivalent to four bags of heroin. He later tells Elton John about the overdose and Elton helps guide him into recovery. He enters rehab and begins the hardest fight of his life.
Relapse
May 15, 2009
The first album from sober Eminem. "Beautiful" is the closest he's ever come to sincerity without irony. "Deja Vu" chronicles his addiction with clinical precision. The accent-heavy horrorcore tracks are uneven, but the album debuted at #1 with 608,000 first-week copies. He's back. He's different. He's alive.
Off Stage
Elton John became Eminem's recovery sponsor -- one of the most unlikely friendships in music. Elton, who has been sober since 1990, took Em's calls at all hours. "Whenever I feel like using, I call Elton," Eminem told Anderson Cooper. The man who was protested by GLAAD for homophobia found his closest recovery ally in an openly gay British pop legend.
2010 - 2020 . The Comeback
Recovery / Rap God
He came back sober, faster, and angrier than ever. "Rap God" averaged 6.46 words per second. Nobody could touch him technically.
"Recovery" (2010) was the commercial comeback: "Love the Way You Lie" (with Rihanna) hit #1, "Not Afraid" hit #1, the album debuted at #1. Then "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" (2013) and "Rap God" -- 6 minutes, 1,560 words, a supersonic section where he raps 97 words in 15 seconds. "Kamikaze" (2018) was a surprise drop attacking mumble rap. "Music to Be Murdered By" (2020) debuted at #1, making him the only artist with 10 consecutive #1 debut albums. The technical skill was never in question. The cultural relevance fluctuated. But the sales never stopped.
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YouTube
1.4B Views
"Rap God"
October 15, 2013
Six minutes and four seconds. 1,560 words. An average of 4.28 words per second, with a supersonic section hitting 97 words in 15 seconds (6.46 words/sec). Guinness World Record for most words in a hit single. The song is a technical demonstration disguised as a flex. Nobody has matched it. Nobody has tried.
1,560 words
6.46 w/s peak
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post-production
SoFi Stadium
Super Bowl Halftime
February 13, 2022 . Inglewood, California
Eminem performs alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Kendrick Lamar, and 50 Cent at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show. He kneels during "Lose Yourself" in what appears to be a Colin Kaepernick-inspired gesture. The NFL reportedly asked him not to. He did it anyway. At 49, he's still defying the people who tell him no.
2022 - Present . The Legacy
The Death of Slim Shady
He killed Slim Shady on a concept album, got inducted into the Hall of Fame, and is learning to be a grandfather.
In 2022, Eminem was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Dr. Dre inducted him. He cried. "The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grace)" arrived in July 2024 -- a concept album about killing his alter ego. His daughter Hailie married Evan McClintock in 2024. His adopted daughter Stevie came out as nonbinary. He became a grandfather in 2025. The angry kid from 8 Mile Road is fifty-two, sober for seventeen years, and learning to be something he never had as a child: a functional parent. The story is still being written.
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Microsoft Theater, LA
Rock Hall of Fame
November 5, 2022
Dr. Dre inducts Eminem into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Eminem's speech thanks Dre, Proof (posthumously), and his daughters. He chokes up. The man who built a career on rage and irony stands on stage and cries because the people he cares about are proud of him.
The Death of Slim Shady
July 12, 2024
The concept album kills his alter ego. "Houdini" samples Steve Miller Band. The album is structured as a true crime documentary about Slim Shady's murder. At 51, Eminem is still willing to experiment with form. The question the documentary asks: can you kill a persona that saved your life?
Grandfather
2025
Hailie Jade announces her pregnancy. Marshall Mathers -- the kid who never had a father, who rapped about killing his mother, who overdosed in a bathroom -- is becoming a grandfather. He revealed the news in a music video. The trailer park kid from 8 Mile is building the family he never had.
Off Stage
Eminem has been sober since April 20, 2008. He marks the anniversary every year. He replaced pills with running -- at one point logging 17 miles a day on a treadmill. "I got addicted to exercise the way I was addicted to pills," he told Men's Journal. He also replaced substances with obsessive wordplay -- filling entire notebooks with rhyme schemes the way other people do crossword puzzles.