Eminem, also known as Slim Shady, was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in October 1972 in St Joseph, Missouri. As a teenager, he became interested in hip hop, and aged 14, under the pseudonym “M&M”, performed amateur raps and participated in freestyle battles (a contest where 2 or more rappers compete using a freestyle rap, with the goal being to diss the opponent through clever lyrics). In 1992, Mathers signed to FBT Productions, run by brothers Jeff and Mark Bass, and in 1996 his debut album “Infinite”, recorded at the Bassment, a recording studio owned by the Bass brothers, was released under their independent label Web Entertainment. Subjects covered in Infinite included his struggles with raising his newborn daughter Hailie Jade Scott while on limited funds. In 1997, Eminem won second place at the 1997 Rap Olympics, causing Jimmy Iovine, CEO of Interscope Records, to request a demo tape. Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, and they began recording tracks for a prospective major label debut “The Slim Shady LP”. Released in 1999, it went on to become one of the most popular albums of 1999, going triple platinum in the process.

“The Marshall Mathers LP” was released in May 2000, and went on to sell 1.76 million copies in its first week, breaking the records set by Snoop Dogg’s “Doggystyle” (as the fastest selling hip hop album) and Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” (as the fastest selling solo album in the U.S.). The third single to be released from the album, “Stan” (which samples Dido’s “Thank You”), was voted the third greatest rap song of all time by Q magazine, and was ranked 290th in the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list, conducted by Rolling Stone magazine..

Eminem's third major album, “The Eminem Show” was released in summer 2002, reached number 1 on the album charts and selling over 1 million copies in its first week of release. 2 years later, fourth LP “Encore” also topped the charts, although not before the U.S. Secret Service admitted, in December 2003, that it was "looking into" allegations that Eminem had threatened the President of the U.S. on the song "We As Americans" – possibly for inclusion on “Encore”, it eventually wound up on a bonus CD accompanying the album instead.

In early 2005, some industry insiders speculated that Eminem was considering calling a halt to his rapping career, fuelled by a double disc album that was to be released later that year, rumored to be titled “The Funeral”, and also by a story from the Detroit Free Press in July 2005 which claimed a potential final bow for Eminem as a solo performer, quoting sources who said that he will begin to fully embrace the role of producer and label executive. The album was eventually released in December under the name “Curtain Call: The Hits”, which is essentially a greatest hits compilation. On the same day of it’s release, Eminem denied that he was retiring, but implied that he would at least be taking a break as an artist, saying "I'm at a point in my life right now where I feel like I don't know where my career is going… This is the reason that we called it 'Curtain Call,' because this could be the final thing. We don't know."

Apart from his solo career, Eminem is active in many other areas, including his rapper collective D12 (short for "Detroit Twelve" or "Dirty Dozen"), who released their debut album “Devil’s Night” in 2001.
Along with his manager Paul Rosenberg, he created Shady Records in late 2000, signing D12 and rapper Obie Trice to the label, and also 50 Cent in 2002 (through a joint venture between Shady and Dr. Dre's Aftermath label). In December 2006, Shady Records released a compilation album entitled “Eminem Presents: the Re-up”), which started out as a mix tape but when the material was better than expected it was released as a full album. As a rap producer, Eminem's production work includes D12’s “Devil’s Night”, 2Pac’s posthumous “Loyal To The Game”, and 50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” and “The Massacre”.

Eminem has sold over 70 million albums worldwide, making him one of the highest selling rappers of all time.