Artist research - Eminem

Eminem was born as Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17th 1972. He was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri but moved across various towns and cities such as Kansas City and Michigan with his poverty stricken mother Deberah Mathers after his father left them when Eminem was aged 2 and never returned.

Eminem was performing rap from the age of 14 under the name M&M. After retaking the 9th grade twice due to truency and failing grades, he dropped out of school at age 17.

Early Career and "Infinate"
Eminem was signed by the record company FBT Productions in 1992 whilst he was still working at his minimum wage job at a resturant cleaning. In 1996, his debut album Infinite was released. Subjects covered were his struggles with raising his newborn daughter Hailie Jade Scott while on limited funds and his strong desire to get rich. After the release of Infinite, Eminem's personal struggles and abuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in an unsuccessful suicide attempt.
Jimmy Iovine, CEO of Interscope Records, requested a demo tape of Eminem's work after he won second place at the 1997 Rap Olympics. Eminem had also won Wake Up Show's Freestyle Performer Of The Year award helping him acquire a record deal. Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, founder of Aftermath Entertainment. The two began recording tracks for Eminem's upcoming major-label debut The Slim Shady LP.



The Slim Shady LP
After being signed to Aftermath Entertainment in 1998, Eminem released his first major studio album, The Slim Shady LP, heavily based on the production by Dr. Dre, one year later in 1999. It went on to be one of the most popular albums of 1999, going triple platinum by the end of the year. With the album's popularity came controversy surrounding many of the album's lyrics. In "'97 Bonnie and Clyde", he describes a trip with his infant daughter, disposing of his wife's body.


The Marshall Mathers LP
The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000. It went on to sell 1.76 million copies in its first week, breaking the records set by Snoop Dogg. The first single released from the album, "The Real Slim Shady", was a success and created some controversy by insulting celebrities. In another single, "Stan", Eminem attempts to deal with his new-found fame, taking on the persona of a deranged fan who kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend. Q magazine named "Stan" the third-greatest rap song of all time.

The Eminem Show
Eminem's third major album, The Eminem Show, was released in summer 2002 selling well over 1 million copies in its first week of release. It featured the single "Without Me", in which he makes contraversial comments about boy bands, Limp Bizkit and Moby. The album reflected on the impact of his rise to fame, his relationship with his wife and daughter, and his status in the hip-hop community. He also addresses the charges he faced over assaulting a bouncer he saw kissing his wife in 2000.

Encore
In 2004, Eminem released his fourth major album, Encore. It sold over 700,000 copies in its first week of release. The album was driven by the single "Just Lose It", notable for being disrespectful towards Michael Jackson. Despite the comedic theme of the lead single, Encore had its fair share of serious subject matter, including the anti-war track "Mosh".

In 2005, some industry insiders speculated that Eminem was considering ending his rapping career after six years. He released a greatest hits album under the name Curtain Call: The Hits, on December 6 2005 under Aftermath Entertainment. In July 2005, news broke out of a potential final bow for Eminem as a solo performer, quoting friends who said that he will begin to fully embrace the role of producer and label executive. On the same day of the release of the compilation album, Eminem denied that he was retiring on a radio interview, but implied that he would at least be taking a break as an artist.

Relapse
In September 2007, Eminem told a radio station he was in limbo on whether to release another album. In December 2008, he gave more details on the album, which he reported was being titled Relapse. "We Made You", the first official single and its music video, were released on April 7. While Relapse didn't manage to sell as well as Eminem's previous efforts, it was still a commercial success that received some critical acclaim, while also re-establishing his presence in the hip hop world. Relapse was named one of the top albums of 2009. Relapse has sold more than five million copies worldwide.

Recovery
In April 2010, Eminem let all his followers on Twitter know he was releasing a new album by tweeting "Recovery" with a link to his website. The album was released on 21st June. The first single, "Not Afraid", was released on April 29, and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.



Acting career
Eminem made his official Hollywood acting debut with the semi-autobiographical 8 Mile, released in November 2002. He has said the movie is not an account of his life, but a representation of growing up in Detroit. He recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself", which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003. It was reported on November 8, 2009 that Eminem will star in the upcoming 3D horror anthology, Shady Talez, directed by John Davis. He has also been involved in various voice overs for example in the 50 cent video game "Bulletproof".

Drug issues
Eminem has spoken openly about his addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs, including Vicodin, Ambien, Valium and Methadone. His group-mate Proof from D12 stated that Mathers "sobered up" in 2002 from drug and alcohol dependence. However, he did turn to zolpidem sleeping pills for relief from sleeping troubles. This caused Mathers to cancel the European leg of the Anger Management Tour in August 2005 and eventually go into rehab for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication". In a 2009 interview with Jonathan Ross, Eminem admitted that at the height of his addiction, he considered suicide, saying that "I just wasn't taking care of myself, at times I wanted to just give it up." He also confirmed that he is now sober, commenting that "Rap was my drug ... Then I had to resort to other things to make me feel that. Now rap's getting me high again."

This is the video for the song Lose Yourself which Eminem released for his film 8 mile: