Born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17th, 1972, Eminem later took his stage name from his initials. He started out in St. Joseph, Missouri, near Kansas City, but spent most of his early childhood in inner city Detroit before moving to the Detroit suburbs. Eminem’s mother, Debbie Mathers, was allegedly hooked on prescription Valium and Vicodin, and the two were desperately poor and frequently lived in public housing or trailers or depended on shelter offered by relatives. Their dysfunctional relationship was later to provide material for several of Eminem's songs, resulting in lawsuits. Eminem struggled in school, eventually dropping out after failing math for the third time, but before he left school Eminem made a number of important friends whose careers were due to blossom alongside his own, including the rapper Proof. At thirteen, Eminem was in a band called Soul Intent, which enjoyed modest success. Mathers was also close to his uncle Ronnie Polkingharn (only three months his senior), a promising comic book artist who committed suicide while in the army. When his teenage girlfriend Kimberly Ann Scott became pregnant, Mathers resolved to turn his life around and find a way to support her by making a hit record. However, Infinite, his first attempt at an album, flopped, and Scott broke up with him, preventing him from seeing his daughter, Hailie Jade. After a failed suicide attempt involving a bottle of Tylenol, Mathers returned to music with renewed determination, and in 1997 he released The Slim Shady EP as a demo. This made him famous within the hip hop underground and attracted the attention of producer Dr. Dre who found a copy of the EP on Jimmy Iovine's garage floor, and eventually led him to a recording contract. Eminem went on to expand his demo into The Slim Shady LP, which became a huge hit in 1999, eventually going triple platinum.

The Marshall Mathers LP, released in 2000, was nominated for four Grammy Awards, but incited protests because many people considered it to be homophobic and misogynistic, as well as an album that encouraged violence. The very personal nature of many of the songs compounded this, and he made further enemies by indulging in what was to become a habit of insulting celebrities, implying that Christina Aguilera had oral sex with Fred Durst and Carson Daley. Eminem defended his work by saying that people shouldn't take it too seriously. Later in his career he also mocked Michael Jackson and Madonna among many others.

Eminem's personal troubles were centered on his rocky relationship with Scott, whom he had married. Their relationship fell apart when he caught her kissing another man, John Guerrera, whom he threatened and allegedly pistol whipped. After a plea bargain, he was fined $100,000 and put on probation for two years. He and Scott divorced, then later remarried, then divorced again. He retained custody of Hailie and also adopted his niece, Alaina. A third album, The Eminem Show, was released in 2002 and was also a success.

When not engaged with music, Eminem has tried his hand at acting, winning critical acclaim and several awards for his performance in the biographical movie 8 Mile. He has written music for several films, winning an Oscar for "Lose Yourself," and has also worked as a music producer, producing two albums by D12 on which he performed, in addition to work by artists including Obie Trice and 50 Cent. D12's third album was due to be released in 2006, but is on hold following the death of its star member and Eminem's best friend, Proof. It has been rumored that Eminem is considering retirement, but he has been continuing his work out of the public eye.

YUDDY