Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on the 17th October 1972, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Son of a fifteen-year-old mother at the time of his birth and a father who left six month later never to return, Marshall spent his early childhood being shoved back and forth from Kansas City and Detroit. He settled on the Eastside of Detroit when he was 12. Switching schools every two to three months made it difficult to make friends, graduate and to stay out of trouble. Being a rap fan for most of his life, Marshall began rapping at the early age of 4. Rhyming words together, battling schoolmates in the lunchroom brought joy to what was otherwise a painful existence.

At the age of 14, he began to get very serious about his rapping but it wasn't until he was 17 that he actually made a name for himself, becoming M& M, which he would later respell as "Eminem". Being rejected by most fellow rappers because of his race, Marshall grew an anger that flows through his music to this day. After failing the 9th grade for three times in a row, he quit school, but remarks that he doesn't consider himself stupid and doesn't advise that people should follow his example. He says that it just wasn't for him. Forcing himself on radio shows, freestyle battles, Marshall threw himself head first into the rap game, where he was swallowed up most of the time. His very first album was titled "Infinite" and, while the album sold less than a thousand copies, it was the gearing up stages for the rapper who became a millionaire. It was then that his daughter, Hailie Jade Scott, was born on December 25th of 1995 with long time girlfriend Kim Scott. Having nothing to lose at all, flat broke and not knowing where he would be living the next week, Marshall set out to rant about life in general, the set quickly caught the ear of hip-hop's difficult-to-please underground. What came out of this was the Slim Shady EP, the early work for the later Dr. Dre revised Slim Shady LP. Down to nearly his last dime, he went into the 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, basically hoping to win the $1,500 cash price which he badly needed. After battling for an hour and throwing back every race diss thrown at him, Marshall made it to second place losing in a slip up. Furious that he had lost, Marshall didn't even notice that he had been spotted. In the crowd were a few producers from Interscope, and they were handed a copy of the "Infinite" tape by way of a demo. Dr. Dre got to hear it and eventually tracked him down. The two instantly hit it off, recording four songs in the their first six hours of working - three which made it to his first LP. After the album was finished, Dr. Dre asked Marshall to come work with him on his new album. He helped produce several tracks and was on the best songs of the album.

Now officially making it, Marshall and Dre set to make his second LP. The album became the Marshall Mathers LP and won 3 Grammies and was the first rap album ever to be nominated "Album of the Year", selling more than 8 million records in the United States alone. He also stunned critics when he shot down all homophobic remarks by performing "Stan" with Elton John. Currently working on his third LP, Em has made a movie, 8 Mile, and has gone back and brought his friend with him; D-12. Though 2001 was a rough year for the rapper, being charged with weapon offenses, divorcing his wife, and almost going to prison, Marshall explains his life today in one word. "Claimer".


8 Mile (2002): $3,000,000

His 2000 album, "The Marshall Mathers LP", sold 1.76 million copies in the first week of release in the U.S., a record for a solo artist. 2000 Album "The Marshall Mathers LP" sold a reported 7 million copies. [January 2001] Featured in "Entertainment Weekly" magazine (December 22/29, 2000) and was voted #3 for Entertainer of the Year. Father of Hailie Jade (b. Christmas Day, 1995) Got joint custody of daughter Hailie Jade. [2001] The name 'Eminem' came from his initials M(arshall) M(athers). Wanted to be a comic book artist Cuts his own hair. Has said that he would like his daughter, Haile Jade, to become an actress. Made $29,000,000 in 2002 with The Eminem Show LP, as the CEO of Shady Records, and the Anger Managment Tour '02. Won a Juno Award (Canada's Grammy Awards) for International Album of the Year. Adopted niece, Alaina, giving her his last name. Has a tattoo of his daughter on his right lower shoulder Failed the 9th grade three times until finally dropping out. He said that he was not stupid [which is evident from interviews and his obvious success], but said that he lacked an interest in school. All he wanted to do was rap. Has a half sister and a half brother on his dad's side; Sarah and Michael Mathers. In May 2003, a minor media stir came about when Eminem refused to allow rock parodist 'Weird Al' Yankovic to produce a video for his "Lose Yourself" parody "Couch Potato". Although semi-official statements from Eminem's camp stated that the rapper wasn't being malicious and simply did not want a parody to detract from his image as a serious hip-hop artist, most of the press that covered the story sided with Yankovic. Despite the lack of the music video, the album featuring the parody, "Poodle Hat", earned Yankovic his highest chart debut in "Billboard" (#17) and, in February 2004, his third Grammy Award. Spoofs his character from 8 Mile (2002) in his music video "Just lose it" Has his own record company called Shady Records To help support his mother, young Marshall worked as a short-order cook at a Michigan family restaurant called Gilbert's Lodge He has sold over 65 million records worldwide (February 2006). Filed for divorce less than 3 months after re-marrying his ex-wife. Adopted his ex-wife's, Kim, other daughter with another man. Her name is Whitney. His "D 12" band mate Proof was killed in a night club shooting at 5 am. [11th April 2006] Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". Volume 245, pages 121- 122. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2006. His ancestry is partly German and Swiss-German. His maternal grandmother Betty Hixson was married five times. He is her grandson from her first marriage. Is good friends with Jay-Z. Is left handed.