Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers lll on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri. Eminem is an American rapper, record producer, songwriter and actor. Credited with popularizing hip hop to Middle America, Eminem’s global success and acclaimed works are widely regarded as having broken racial barriers for the acceptance of white rappers in popular music. He has been influential for many artists of various genres and is often cited as one of the greatest rappers of all time.

Eminem is among the best-selling music artists of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of more than 220 million records. He was the best selling music artist in the United States of the 2000’s and the best selling male music artist in the United States in 2010’s. He was named “Artist of the Decade (2000-2009).” Rolling Stone included him in its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Times” and “The 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.” He has won numerous awards, including 15 Grammy Awards, 8 American Music Awards, 17 Billboard Music Awards, and an Academy Award and a MTV Europe Music Global Icon Award. He has had 10 number one albums on the Billboard 200, which all consecutively debuted at number one on the charts making him the only artist to achieve this.

Eminem made his debut into the motion picture industry with the musical drama film, 8 Mile (2002), featuring a fictionalized version of himself, which won the Academy Award for Lose Yourself. This made him the first hip hop artist to ever win the award. He has made cameo appearances in several movies and in the television series, Entourage (2010). He has also helped launch the careers of several artists.

Eminem never knew his father and had a turbulent childhood. He was raised by his mother and they moved many times between Missouri and Detroit, where they lived in several public housing projects. This lifestyle had a large impact on his personality. Although he dropped out of high school at age 17, he always liked English and studied the dictionary.

He is one of the most controversial and best-selling artists of the 21st century.