Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972),[1] better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. As well as being a member of D12, Eminem is also one half of the Detroit hip hop duo Bad Meets Evil with Royce da 5'9". Eminem is one of the best-selling artists in the world. He has been listed and ranked as one of the greates
t artists of all time by many magazines. Including his work with D12 and Bad Meets Evil, Eminem has achieved ten number one albums on the Billboard Top 200. He has also sold more than 33 million track downloads and 39.6 million albums in the United States alone. Eminem quickly gained popularity in 1999 with his major-label debut album, The Slim Shady LP. The Slim Shady LP, The Marshall Mathers LP and his third major album, The Eminem Show, all won Grammy Awards, making Eminem the first artist to win Best Rap Album for three consecutive LPs. The Marshall Mathers LP is also considered one of Eminem's best and most successful albums. He won the award again in 2010 for his album Relapse and in 2011 for his album Recovery, giving him a total of 13 Grammys in his career. Eminem then went on hiatus after touring in 2005. He released his first album since 2004's Encore, titled Relapse, on May 15, 2009. In 2010, Eminem released his seventh studio album Recovery, which was an international success. Recovery was also named the best selling album worldwide of 2010 joining The Eminem Show, which was the best seller of 2002. Eminem has named Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, Newcleus and Ice-T amongst others as his influences. Eminem has opened other ventures since the beginning of his success. He founded his own record label, Shady Records with his manager Paul Rosenberg. He also has his own radio channel, Shade 45. Eminem began an acting career in 2002, when he starred in the hip hop drama film 8 Mile. He is also set to star in the 2013 films Shady Talez, Have Gun, Will travel and Southpaw. He has also made cameo appearances in The Wash (2001), Funny People (2009) and television series Entourage. Eminem has also created a large number of rivals in the music industry, including Ja Rule, Benzino, Everlast, Insane Clown Posse, Canibus and others.n 2005, some industry insiders speculated that Eminem was considering ending his rapping career after six years and several multi-platinum albums. Speculation began in early 2005 about a double-disc album to be released late that year, rumored to be titled The Funeral.[49] The album later manifested itself as a greatest hits album under the name Curtain Call: The Hits in December. In July 2005, the Detroit Free Press broke news of a potential final bow for Eminem as a solo performer, quoting members of his inside circle who said that he will begin to fully embrace the role of producer and label executive. On the same day of the release of the compilation album, Eminem denied that he was retiring on Detroit-based WKQI's "Mojo in the Morning" radio show, 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."[50] He released The Re-Up with the members of his record label, Shady Records. In 2005, Eminem was a subject of Bernard Goldberg's book, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America; he ranked No. 58.[51] Goldberg cited a 2001 column by Bob Herbert of The New York Times claiming, "In Eminem's world, all women are whores and he is eager to rape and murder them."[52] Goldberg cited Eminem's song "No One's Iller" from The Slim Shady EP as an example of misogyny in his music.[53] In summer 2005, Eminem embarked on his first US concert run in three years, the Anger Management 3 Tour, featuring 50 Cent, G-Unit, Lil' Jon, D12, Obie Trice, The Alchemist, and others. In August 2005, Eminem canceled the European leg of the tour and subsequently announced that he had entered drug rehabilitation for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication".[54] Curtain Call: The Hits was released on December 6, 2005, under Aftermath Entertainment.[55] In its first week it sold nearly 441,000 copies in the US and was Eminem's fourth straight No. 1 album on the Billboard Hot 200.[56] The album has been certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA.[57]