Did You Know...

Virtually no music artist has generated the controversy that Eminem has since before the release of his 1999 debut album, The Slim Shady LP. Considered to be incredibly funny, sarcastic, misogynistic and homophobic, the rapper born Marshall Mathers III has taken his place as one of the kings of rap music, and along the way he has sold huge numbers of CDs and an equally large number of tickets to his shows.

Though he was born near Kansas City, Eminem spent a good portion of his childhood in Detroit, where he developed his rapping style and began to impress the local fans (and other rappers) despite being white. By doing well in the 1997 Rap Olympics MC Battle in Los Angeles, Eminem attracted the attention of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, who took over Eminem's development and led him to superstardom.

By the time Eminem released The Marshall Mathers LP in 2000, his recorded complaints about his mother's treatment of him as a child brought on a lawsuit for defamation of character, and either jealousy or rage brought on multiple conflicts with other rappers and people who simply wanted to goad Eminem into hostility. Even so, his growing core of fans turned into a multitude that shows no sign of waning.