Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, 17 October 1973, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.

He took up rapping in high school before dropping out in ninth grade, joining ad hoc groups Basement Productions, the New Jacks, and D12. The newly named Eminem released a raw debut album in 1997 through independent label FBT.

His self-produced recording The Slim Shady EP caught the attention of famed rapper and producer Dr. Dre, who helped Eminem produce The Slim Shady LP. The 1999 record made Eminem a radio and video superstar, with a reputation as a white rapper who wasn't afraid to be vulgar.

The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000, quickly selling 2 million copies. The album's first single, "The Real Slim Shady", created some buzz by trash-talking celebrities and spilling dubious gossip about them. In the song, Eminem claims, among other things, that Christina Aguilera gave "head" (oral sex) to Fred Durst (of Limp Bizkit) and Carson Daly (of MTV's Total Request Live).

In 2003 Eminem became the first rapper to win an Oscar (for the song "Lose Yourself," from 8 Mile). He released a greatest hits album in 2005 titled Curtain Call and performed with D12 on the hits "My Band" and "How Come." In 2006 he and Akon had a top-ten hit with "Smack That."

On October 26, 2004 a week before the U.S. presidential election, 2004, Eminem released the video for his song titled "Mosh" on the Internet. The song features a very strong anti-Bush message, with lyrics such as "**ck Bush" and "this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president".

During 2005 there was a rumor that Eminem was retiring but Marshall cleared that up very quickly!! He told everyone that he wuz just taking a break from the mic which led to his newest cd "Curtain Call" released in December of 2005. Curtain Call has all of Em's favorites and also features 2 new songs. "When I'm Gone" and "Shake That (feat. Nate Dogg).