Marshall Mathers was born in St. Joseph, a small town just outside Kansas City, MO. Marshall spent most of his early life between St. Joseph and Detroit, living in near poverty conditions. He was deeply attracted to rap music by the time he reached his teen years, and at the age of 14 was performing raps in his friend's basement. The two pals billed themselves as Manix and M&M which, was soon changed to Eminem (the name originally was formed from his initials). Because of the racial boundaries that were placed in front of him as a white rapper he took to the underground rapping as a battle rapper in clubs. He eventually became a popular performer and discovered that he was the rapper to beat.

The topics of his raps are based on his skills to express himself about his unhappy childhood and the drastic, and often dramatic, circumstances that arose throughout his life. His recordings over the past several years are an impressive accumulation of deep and meaningful lyrics.

- 1995 - Joined New Jacks, then left, and joined Soul Intent releasing his first single
- 1997 - Debut album is released. The title, 'Infinate'
- 1998 - After being contacted by Dr.Dre, Eminem releases his -alter-ego's' album, 'The Slim Shady EP'. Eminem had discovered that his only means of dealing with his life was through his rap music. The single to preview the albums release was 'Just Don't Give A Fuck'.

- 1999 - In February his official, full album release happens, 'The Slim Shady LP'. In March he hit the top 40 with his single, 'My Name Is' and by October his album was certified 3x platinum.

- 2000 - In February, Eminem won 2 Grammy Awards; Best Rap Solo Performance for "My Name Is", and Best Rap Album (The Slim Shady LP) . In March he was back in the top 40 with a collaboration rap song done with Dr.Dre, called "Forget about Dre'. By summer his latest album emerged on the music scene, -The Marshall Mathers LP', selling close to 2 million copies in the first week. By the end of August, his -Marshall Mathers LP' had hit 6x platinum and hit 7x by the end of September. By the end of the year the album was the second highest selling at 7.9 million copies sold within the year.

- 2002 - The rapper re-emerged after a year of legal battles to write some new lyrics with the album 'The Eminem Show'. Singles 'Without Me' and -Cleanin' Out My Closet' from the album, proved very popular. In June, 'Without Me' topped the Billboard Top 40 for two weeks. 'Cleanin' Out My Closet' hit the top ten in September. October saw the release of the soundtrack to movie '8 Mile' which featured several songs by the rapper as well as other artists, like Jay-Z and Macy Gray. From this soundtrack, Eminem hit #1 for three weeks with song -Lose Yourself'.

- 2003 - January saw him win the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Musical Performer. Most of this year was spent collaborating with other artists and winning various music and music video awards.

- 2004 - His 'The Marshall Mathers LP' had now hit 9x platinum and by November, a new album, 'Encore' was released. Singles, 'Mosh' and 'Mockingbird', hit the top 40 charts.

- 2005 - This year saw the rapper taking time off to produce music with other artists but not before he released a hit album called 'Curtain Call'. The album contained 3 new tracks in addition to his chart toppers.

- 2009 - A highly anticipated album was due for release this May/June entitled 'Relapse.'

Eminem is well known for his raw, honest, and graphic lyrics and continues to deliver results with each new track. He has struggled emotionally and has chosen to share his struggles through his rap music. His talents have been rewarded time after time with countless awards for both his music and videos.