Robhyn Rihana

Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20th, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados.

Her childhood on the Caribbean island of Barbados was deeply affected by her father’s addiction to crack cocaine and parent’s rocky marriage, which ended when she was 14. The shy kid found an outlet through singing.

She lived the life of a normal island girl going to Combermere, a top sixth form school, similar to grammar schools in the UK. Through the years, particularly during her pre-teen and teenage years, she sang to friends and family only for amusement purposes. Rihanna won a beauty pageant and performed Mariah Carey’s “Hero” in a school talent show.

After forming a girl group with two classmates, Rihanna, 15, auditioned for veteran producer Evan Rogers, who told Entertainment Weekly:



In January 2005, Rogers began shopping Rihanna’s four-song demo to various recording companies. A copy of the demo was sent to Def Jam Recordings, where Jay Brown, an A&R executive, overheard it and played it for the label’s then-president, Jay-Z. When he heard “Pon de Replay”, Jay-Z was skeptical about Rihanna at first because he felt that the song was too big for her, stating that “when a song is that big, it’s hard [for a new artist] to come back from. I don’t sign songs, I sign artists”. Def Jam was the first label to respond and invited her to audition where she sang “For the Love of You” for Jay-Z and L.A. Reid of Island Def Jam Music Group. She was signed the same day and canceled a set of meetings with other labels. After signing with Def Jam in February 2005, she relocated to the United States and moved in with Rogers and his wife. Although she still thinks of herself as Robyn, she chose her middle name as her stage name because, to her, the name Rihanna is just a stage name that started in a recording studio in 2005.

After signing with Def Jam, she spent the next three months recording and completing her debut album. The album featured production from Evan Rogers, Carl Sturken, Stargate and Poke & Tone. She first collaborated with rapper Memphis Bleek on his fourth studio album 534 before her debut. She released her debut single, “Pon de Replay”, on August 22, 2005, which peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. It became a global hit where it peaked within the top ten across fifteen countries. Her debut album, Music of the Sun, was released in August 2005 in the United States. The album reached number ten on the Billboard 200, selling 69,000 copies in its first week. The album sold over two million copies worldwide and received a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America, denoting shipments to United States retailers of over 500,000 units.





Her music was marketed within the reggae genres because of her Caribbean descent. The album received mixed reviews by music critics. Rolling Stone magazine rated it 2.5 out of 5 stars and described as lacking the replay value, ingenuity and rhythm of the single with “generic vocal hiccups and frills” of US R&B inflecting upon her “Caribbean charm”. Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described the album as a “glut of teen R&B chanteuses ” and described her lead single “Pon de Replay” as “a dancehall-pop mixture that owes plenty of its sweat and shimmy to Beyoncé’s “Baby Boy”. A reviewer for Entertainment Weekly commented that the “dancehall/R&B debut is filled with chintzy production and maudlin arrangements that block out the Music of the Sun.” The albums second single, “If It’s Lovin’ that You Want” was less successful than “Pon de Replay”, having managed a peak position of number thirty-six in the United States, and number eleven in the United Kingdom. The single proved to be well-received in Australia, Ireland and New Zealand reaching the top ten in those countries




A month after the release of her debut album, she began working on her second studio album. The album contained production from record producers Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken who produced most of her debut album, Stargate, J. R. Rotem and label-mate singer-songwriter Ne-Yo. While recording the album, Rihanna served as an opening act for Gwen Stefani to promote her debut album. The lead single, “SOS”, peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her first number-one in the United States. A Girl Like Me was released in April 2006, less than eight months after her debut. The album reached number five on the Billboard 200 selling 115,000 copies in its first week and has been certified platinum by the RIAA, having shipped over one million units in the U.S. Internationally, the album peaked at number one on the Top Canadian Albums, five on the UK Albums Chart and number five on the Irish Album Chart. The critical response to the album was mixed; Rolling Stone magazine commented “Like her filler-packed debut album, this similar but superior follow-up doesn’t deliver anything else as ingenious as its lead single.” Critics described the album as a record that almost identically alternates between the sunny dancehall/dub-pop, hip-hop-infused club bangers and gushy, adult-oriented ballads.




The second single, “Unfaithful”, became a major worldwide hit, reaching the top ten in dozen countries around the world, including the United States where it reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping the charts in Canada, France and Switzerland. The albums third single, “We Ride” failed to reprise the success of the lead single but the fourth single, “Break It Off” featuring Sean Paul, jumped from number fifty-two to number ten eventually peaking at number nine. After the release of the album, Rihanna embarked on her first headlining tour, the Rihanna: Live in Concert Tour. She then embarked on Jay-Z’s Rock The Block Tour and then toured with Pussycat Dolls from November 2006 to February 2007 in the United Kingdom. Rihanna also made her acting debut in a cameo role in the straight-to-DVD film Bring It On: All or Nothing, which was released on August 8, 2006.




With her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), Rihanna wanted to head in a new direction with the help of music producers Timbaland, will.i.am and Sean Garrett, and re-imagine her album compositions with fresh, uptempo dance tracks. She adopted a more rebellious image while recording the album, eventually dying her hair black and cutting it short. Rihanna commented, “I want to keep people dancing but still be soulful at the same time […] You feel different every album, and [at] this stage I feel like I want to do a lot of uptempo [songs].” The album topped the charts in countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Brazil, Russia and Ireland, and it peaked at number two in the United States and Australia. Unlike previous work, the album featured a more dance-pop sound instead of the dancehall, reggae and ballad styles. The album received positive reviews by critics, becoming her most critically acclaimed album at that time compared to her previous efforts.




Good Girl Gone Bad yielded four chart-topping singles – all singles reaching the top three on the Billboard Hot 100 – including the worldwide number-one hit “Umbrella,” featuring Jay-Z. In addition to reaching number one in various countries, “Umbrella” was the number-one single in the United Kingdom for ten consecutive weeks, making it the longest-running number-one single since Wet Wet Wet’s single “Love Is All Around” spent fifteen weeks at the top in 1994. The song is listed number three on the 100 Best Songs of 2007 published by Rolling Stone magazine.Her other singles, “Shut Up and Drive”, “Don’t Stop The Music” and “Hate That I Love You”, were released from the album and were able to mirror the success of “Umbrella,” with “Don’t Stop the Music” reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100 while peaking at number one in Australia, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Switzerland. At the 2007 American Music Awards, she won the Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist.

Rihanna was nominated in four categories at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards, winning Monster Single of the Year and Video of the Year.  In support of the album, she kicked off her second headlining tour The Good Girl Gone Bad Tour on September 12, 2007, with several shows across the United States, Canada and Europe.




The re-issue of her third album, titled Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, which was released in June 2008, features three new songs. The first single from the re-release, “Take a Bow”, topped the charts in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. “If I Never See Your Face Again”, a duet with Maroon 5, was also included in the re-release, alongside “Disturbia”, which reached number-one in the United States and New Zealand. “Disturbia” reached to number four before reaching number one, as her previous single, “Take a Bow”, was at number two, making Rihanna the seventh female singer to have two songs in the top five. She was also featured on rapper T.I.’s “Live Your Life,” which peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Rihanna her fifth number-one single on the Hot 100 thus far (“SOS,” “Umbrella,” “Take a Bow,” “Disturbia,” and “Live Your Life”) This made Rihanna one of the two female solo artists with the most number-one singles of the decade, with the other being Beyoncé Knowles. A remix of the album, Good Girl Gone Bad: The Remixes, was also released containing remixed versions of songs from the original album. The album has shipped over two million units in the United States, receiving a two-times-platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); this gave Rihanna her best-selling album to date.




At the 2008 Grammy Awards, Rihanna earned her first Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, in addition to receiving five other nominations, including Record of the Year, Best Dance Recording, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group and Best R&B Song.

Rihanna embarked on the Glow in the Dark Tour with Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and N.E.R.D on April 16, 2008.

Rihanna won Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist at the 2008 American Music Awards. In December 2008, Margeaux Watson of Entertainment Weekly wrote an article entitled “Rihanna: Diva of the year” which he referred to her breakout success of 2008.




On February 8, 2009, Rihanna’s scheduled performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards was cancelled. Reports later surfaced regarding an alleged altercation with then-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, who was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats. On March 5, 2009, Brown was charged with assault and making criminal threats. Due to a leaked photograph from the Los Angeles Police Department obtained by TMZ.com—which revealed Rihanna had sustained visible injuries—an organization known as STOParazzi has proposed a law called “Rihanna’s Law,” which, if enacted, would “deter employees of law enforcement agencies from releasing photos or information that exploits crime victims.” Gil Kaufman of VH1 reported ” the nonstop coverage of the Rihanna/Brown case has brought up a number of issues regarding the privacy of alleged victims of domestic violence, including the decision by almost all major news outlets to divulge the identity of the victim—which is not typically done in domestic-violence cases” and the controversial distribution of the leaked photograph. Rihanna was subpoenaed to testify during a preliminary hearing in L.A. on June 22, 2009. “The DA told me Rihanna will be subpoenaed. I will accept on her behalf,” Rihanna’s attorney, Donald Etra told Us Weekly. On June 22, 2009, Brown pled guilty to the felony assault. In exchange for his plea Brown received five years probation and was ordered to stay fifty yards away from Rihanna, unless at public events, which then will be reduced to ten yards.




Rihanna made an appearance as the central character in Kanye West’s music video “Paranoid”. She also collaborated with Jay-Z and West on “Run This Town” which peaked at number two on Billboard Hot 100 as well as reaching the top ten in ten other countries. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, bringing her total to three Grammys.

Her fourth studio album, Rated R, was released in November 2009. Rolling Stone was favorable of the album commenting that “Rihanna has transformed her sound and made one of the best pop records of the year”. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of one million copies. Its first three singles: “Russian Roulette”, “Hard” and “Rude Boy” peaked within the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Rude Boy” reaching number-one. The song also topped the charts in Australia, while reaching number two in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland. Two other singles were released from Rated R, which included “Rockstar 101″ and the final single from the album, “Te Amo”. To further promote the album, she embarked on her worldwide tour, the Last Girl on Earth Tour.




In January 2010, Rihanna won two Barbados Music Awards for “Song of the Decade” with “Umbrella” and “Entertainer of the Decade”. She was named “International Female Artist of the Year” at the 2010 NRJ Music Awards. During the summer, she collaborated with rapper Eminem on “Love the Way You Lie”, which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as other countries including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden. “Love the Way You Lie” became her seventh number one hit single on the Hot 100 of her career, making her the female artist with the fifth-most number ones in the chart’s history. She also lent her vocals to the hook of “All of the Lights”, the fourth single from Kanye West’s fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which features additional vocals from several other recording artists, including John Legend, The-Dream, Elly Jackson, Alicia Keys, Fergie, Kid Cudi, and Elton John. In October 2010, she released a self-titled book, and announced that she was parting ways with manager Marc Jordan and will henceforth be managed by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Management. She is also starting her own company, Rihanna Entertainment, in which she will “merge all of her businesses including music, film, fragrance, fashion and book ventures”.





Rihanna released her fifth studio album, Loud, on November 16, 2010.It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, selling 207,000 copies in its first week, making it her biggest opening week of sales. Its lead single, “Only Girl (In the World)”, reached number one in more than ten countries including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The song also won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording at the 53rd Grammy Awards. The album’s second single, “What’s My Name?”, featuring Canadian rapper Drake, also reached number one in the United States and on the official UK singles chart, making Rihanna the first female solo artist to have five number one singles in the United Kingdom in consecutive years. The song reached number one on the Hot 100 before “Only Girl (In the World)”, making it the first time in Hot 100 history that an album’s debut single reached number one after the second single. With her third international single from Loud, she earned another milestone when “S&M”, featuring Britney Spears reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the youngest artist in the chart’s 52-year history to achieve ten number-one singles. “Man Down” and “California King Bed” were the other two subsequent singles released from the album.




In June 2011, Rihanna embarked on her worldwide concert tour, Loud Tour, to promote the album.There were almost 100 shows in Europe, North America and South America. Rihanna released the seventh single from Loud, “Cheers (Drink to That)”, which reached number seven on the Hot 100.

Loud won the Favorite Soul/R&B Album at the 2011 American Music Awards; Rihanna won Best Female R&B Artist Of The Year at the 2011 BET Awards; Rihanna, who opened the 2011 Billboard Music Awards performing “S&M” with Britney Spears, won 3 awards: Top Female Artist, Top Radio Songs Artist, Top Rap Song; She also won the Best International Female Artist award at the 2011 BRIT Awards.




Rihanna’s sixth album, Talk That Talk, was released on November 21, 2011 in both deluxe and standard editions. The lead single “We Found Love” premiered on September 22, 2011 and was released the same day for digital download in the US. With the ascension of the track to number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, Rihanna became the fastest solo artist in the chart’s history to achieve twenty Hot 100 top ten singles, breaking the previous record set by Madonna. The song later became Rihanna’s eleventh number one single on the chart. With this, Rihanna became only the seventh artist in the 53-year history of the chart to amass at least eleven number one singles, behind The Beatles (20), Mariah Carey (18), Michael Jackson (13), Madonna (12), The Supremes (12) and tying with Whitney Houston, who also achieved eleven number one singles. Additionally, Rihanna moved into third place, tied with Houston, for the female artist with the most number one singles, behind Carey and Madonna. “We Found Love” ultimately spent ten non consecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing “Umbrella” as Rihanna’s longest number one single, and was 2011’s longest-running number one in the country. In the UK, the single became Rihanna’s second solo single (third overall) to sell over one million copies in the country alone, after “Love The Way You Lie” and “Only Girl (In The World)” (2010). “We Found Love” was a superior global sensation, topping charts in eighteen countries worldwide and peaking in the top ten of charts in thirty countries, breaking a string of records worldwide. It became Rihanna’s highest-charting single on the Japan Hot 100 and her best-selling single in New Zealand. The song was covered by many popular artists including the Glee Cast and both Coldplay and Jessie J, in the Radio 1 Live Lounge. Later the music video won the award for ‘Video of the Year’ at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards making Rihanna the first women ever to win this award more than once. “You Da One” was released as the second single from the album on November 11, 2011; and was a moderate success reaching the top twenty in both the UK and US. It was followed by the title track featuring Jay-Z as the third single in early 2012, after asking fans on Twitter. It has currently reached numbers 25 and 31 in the UK, and US, respectively. At the end of 2011, Rihanna was named the highest-selling singles artist of the year in the UK, having overtaken Adele by a sales margin of 6,000 units.




In early 2012, two collaborations featuring Rihanna were released; Coldplay’s “Princess of China” from the album Mylo Xyloto and Drake’s Take Care from his album of the same name. Both have currently reached the top twenty of the Billboard Hot 100 at numbers 20 and nine, respectively. Rihanna appeared on Coldplay’s Mylo Xyloto tour, performing “Princess Of China” and “Umbrella”. She also joined the band at the closing ceremony of the Paralympics.

In February, “All of the Lights” was nominated for Song of the Year, ‘Best Rap Song’, and ‘Best Rap/Sung Collaboration’ at the 54th Grammy Awards in 2012, eventually winning the latter two awards, bringing Rihanna’s total Grammy awards to six. Later that month, Rihanna won her second BRIT Award for ‘Best International Female Artist’, following the same win the previous year.

In February 2012, it was speculated that former boyfriend Chris Brown was the featured artist on the full length version of Rihanna’s track, “Birthday Cake”, from Talk That Talk. These rumours were later confirmed when Rihanna posted the song on her Twitter account on her 24th birthday, February 20, 2012, after over a week of speculation. The reports gained worldwide media controversy, due to Brown and Rihanna’s physical altercation three years prior. Critics stated that the remix came as a shock and believed Rihanna would face harsh criticism for setting a bad example to younger girls, whilst others praised the publicity side of the release. In addition to the shocking remix for the Rihanna track, the pair furthermore fueled controversy having recorded another remix together, this time for Brown’s single, “Turn Up the Music” which was released moments later. The remix version of “Birthday Cake” has currently reached number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100.




“Talk That Talk”, a single featuring Jay-Z, was followed by the simultaneous release of two collaborations between Rihanna and her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown; remixes of her “Birthday Cake” and his “Turn Up the Music”. “Where Have You Been”, the album’s last single, has peaked in the top twenty of various countries. “Cockiness (Love It)” was released in a remixed form featuring ASAP Rocky.





Rihanna appeared as Petty Officer (GM2) Cora Raikes in the Peter Berg-produced film Battleship, which is loosely based on the game of the same name, released in May 2012. She chose this project because she wanted “to do something badass” and also because it wasn’t a role too big for her to play. Rihanna and the cast promoted the film in the United Kingdom, United States, Australia and Japan. Her performance earned her a Teen Choice Award for “Choice Breakout in a Film”. She appeared in Katy Perry: Part of Me, a 3D documentary-concert film centering on singer Katy Perry, and also filmed scenes playing herself in the apocalyptic comedy End of the World.

2012 saw the release of “Rebelle”, Rihanna’s second fragrance. Rihanna’s first TV program, Styled to Rock, premiered in the UK in August 2012 on Sky Living. The ten-week series sees Rihanna, Nicola Roberts, Lysa Cooper and Henry Holland assisting up-and-coming British designers with their own clothing lines. On August 19, 2012, Rihanna appeared in the first episode of the second season of Oprah Winfrey’s American primetime television show Oprah’s Next Chapter. The episode scores the second highest telecast in the history of the Oprah Winfrey Network. In October, Rihanna was named number one pop artist of 1992–2012 by Billboard. Rihanna was also named the United Kingdom’s second biggest selling female singles artist of all time.

In 2012, Rihanna landed at number twenty on Time magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World. The following month, Forbes ranked her fourth on the Celebrity 100 list, naming her one the world’s most powerful celebrity with earnings of $53 million between May 2011 and May 2012. She became the most popular female on the social network Facebook, is the most-viewed female artist on YouTube and has the fourth most followers on Twitter, putting her at the top of Forbes list of Social Networking Superstars. When combining Facebook fans, YouTube views, and Twitter followers, Rihanna is the second most popular celebrity on social networking in the world behind Lady Gaga. She has won multiple records in the Guinness World Records, noting titles as the first woman in the UK to have five number one singles in five consecutive years, the singer with most number one singles in a year and the artist with most digital number one singles in the United States. Rihanna has been named the best-selling digital artist of all time in the United States, having sold 47,571,000 million singles and albums. In November 2012, Rihanna released her third fragrance, “Nude”.




Rihanna’s seventh studio album, Unapologetic, was released in November 2012. In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 238,000, marking Rihanna’s first number one album in the country. In addition, it was the best-selling debut week of her career, besting her fifth studio album Loud (2010). The album was Rihanna’s third consecutive number one album in the United Kingdom and fifth in Switzerland. The lead single from the album, “Diamonds”, reached number one in more than twenty countries worldwide, including on the US Billboard Hot 100, her twelfth number one on the chart which tied her with Madonna and The Supremes as the artists’ with the fourth most number ones on the chart’s history. The album’s second single, “Stay”, featuring Mikky Ekko, reached the top five in over twenty countries, including number three on the Billboard Hot 100. “Pour It Up” was released as the second U.S. single and third overall, reaching number 19 on the Hot 100. An official remix featuring American rappers Young Jeezy, Rick Ross, Juicy J, and T.I. was later distributed. “Right Now” featuring David Guetta serves as the fourth single from the album and peaked at number fifty on the Hot 100. As promotion prior to the album’s release, Rihanna embarked on the 777 Tour, a mini tour of seven shows in seven countries in seven days. A documentary DVD of the tour was later released.





In February 2013 at the 55th Grammy Awards, Rihanna won her sixth Grammy Award, in the category Best Short Form Music Video for “We Found Love” (2011). Also that month, the Official Charts Company announced that Rihanna had sold 3,868,000 records in the past year in the UK alone, ranking at number one in the list of 2013 BRIT Awards artist nominees. In November 2013, Rihanna was given the “Icon Award” at the 2013 American Music Awards, with the show’s producer, Larry Klein commenting: “The first-ever Icon Award was created to honor an artist whose body of work has made a profound influence over pop music on a global level […] Rihanna’s iconic and innovative sound has enabled her to become one of the most influential and best-selling artists of all time.” American television host Bill Maher also referred to Rihanna as “the voice of our generation”.




Rihanna’s fifth headlining concert tour, the Diamonds World Tour, began in March 2013 in support of Unapologetic. Rihanna appeared in the Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg comedy film This Is the End, released in June 2013. That same month, American hip hop artist Wale released a remixed version of his single “Bad” featuring Rihanna. In October 2013, Eminem released his Rihanna-assisted single, “The Monster”, the fourth release from his eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013). With the song entering the UK Singles Chart at number one, Rihanna joined Elvis Presley and The Beatles as just one of three acts to have scored a number one single each year over seven consecutive years in the chart’s history. The song also peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which marked Rihanna’s thirteenth chart topper, tying her with Michael Jackson for the third most number ones in the chart’s 55 year history. Additionally, Rihanna became the fastest solo artist to achieve 13 number ones, surpassing the previous record held by Mariah Carey (seven-years, eight-months and 19 days), with only The Beatles reaching the tally more quickly.

In February 2013, Rihanna presented her first women’s spring fashion collection at London Fashion Week for British street fashion brand River Island, collaborating with her personal stylist Adam Selman. They published two more collections for the brand, a summer edition released on May 25, 2013 and an autumn edition released on September 10, 2013. The fourth and last collection for River Island, the winter edition was released on November 7, 2013. Meanwhile, the US version of Styled to Rock premiered on October 25, 2013 on Bravo. In 2013, the singer collaborated with MAC Cosmetics and released her own summer, fall and holiday lines of makeup called “RiRi hearts MAC”. In July 2013, lager production company Budweiser announced that Rihanna had become a part of their global “Made For Music” campaign, also co-starring Jay-Z. A commercial video was released featuring the singer and song “Right Now”. Rihanna’s fourth women’s fragrance, titled “Rogue” was released on September 14, 2013.





In January 2014, Shakira’s collaboration with Rihanna “Can’t Remember To Forget You” was released. Its sexy music video became Vevo Certified, with over 100 million views, just a few days after its release. That same month, it was announced that Rihanna had started planning her eighth studio album. In February 2014, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, announced that Rihanna would release a concept album based around the upcoming 3D animated film Home, which she also stars in alongside Steve Martin and Jennifer Lopez. In May 2014, Rihanna left Def Jam to sign fully with Roc Nation who had managed her since October 2010.

Rihanna was absent at the 2014 Grammys when her “Unapologetic” album nabbed the award for Best Urban Contemporary Album (her seventh one to date). “I was at home and one of my friends hit me and said, ‘You just won a Grammy,’ and I was like, ‘What?'” she said. “And when I went on the Internet I just saw ‘Unapologetic’! It was quite an emotional moment surprisingly, but I was in shock. I’m excited. It was a good feeling to still be that excited at this point in my career.” In May 2014, Rihanna won the Artist of the Year award at iHeartRadio Music Awards. “I know I’m a pain in the ass, but it’s worth it because we got the biggest award of the night!” she said to all of her team and anyone who had ever worked with her. She also won Best Fan Army for the Rihanna Navy, Hip Hop/R&B Song of the Year for “Pour It Up,” and Song of the Year for “Stay.” On June 2, 2014, Rihanna received the Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), a special prize reserved for “an individual whose style has made a significant impact on popular culture on an international stage”.

In February 2014, it was announced that Eminem and Rihanna would embark on a mini-tour called The Monster Tour and three dates were announced  for August (Pasadena, East Rutherford, Detroit) — with three further dates added to the tour due to popular demand. The duo performed almost 50 songs including their collaborations “The Monster” (2013), “Numb” (2012), and “Love the Way You Lie” (2010).

Rihanna started 2014 as the new face of the spring/summer campaign of the French fashion house Balmain. Rihanna was also part of the MAC Viva Glam campaign, which benefits women, men, and children living with HIV/AIDS. In September 2014, Rihanna released her first men’s fragrance: Rogue Man. Rihanna’s most popular and iconic 2014 magazine covers included Vogue US, Vogue Brasil, Lui Elle US, Esquire UK, Harper’s Bazaar Arabia and Tush,





Rihanna established her dance-pop credentials in summer 2005 with her debut smash hit, "Pon de Replay," and continued to demonstrate hit potential in subsequent years (e.g., "S.O.S." in 2006; "Umbrella" in 2007; "Disturbia" in 2008). However, it was the singer's third album, Good Girl Gone Bad, that made her a full-fledged international pop star with a regular presence atop the charts. Born Robyn Rihanna Fenty on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados, she exhibited a certain star quality as a young child, often winning beauty and talent contests. Because she lived on the fairly remote island of Barbados in the West Indies, however, she never foresaw the sort of stardom she would later attain.
That stardom came courtesy of a fateful meeting with Evan Rogers. The New Yorker was vacationing in Barbados with his wife, a native of the island, when he was introduced to Rihanna. Rogers had spent years producing pop hits for such superstars as *NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, Kelly Clarkson, Laura Pausini, and Rod Stewart, and he offered the talented Rihanna a chance to record. Along with Rogers' production partner, Carl Sturken (the other half of Syndicated Rhythm Productions), Rihanna recorded several demos that sparked the interest of the Carter Administration -- that is, the newly appointed Def Jam president Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter. This led to an audition, and Rihanna both received and accepted an on-the-spot offer to sign with Def Jam.
Come summer 2005, Def Jam rolled out "Pon de Replay," the lively leadoff single from Music of the Sun. Produced almost entirely by Rogers and Sturken, the song synthesized Caribbean rhythms with urban-pop songwriting. "Pon de Replay" caught fire almost immediately, climbing all the way to number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and contesting the half-summer reign of Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together" atop the chart. The debut album spawned one other hit, "If It's Lovin' That You Want," which also broke the Top 40. Rihanna's follow-up effort, A Girl Like Me, saw even greater success and spawned three sizable singles: a chart-topper ("S.O.S.") and two Top Ten hits ("Unfaithful," "Break It Off").
Rihanna's third album, 2007's Good Girl Gone Bad, continued her success while signaling a change of direction. Whereas her past two albums had been imbalanced -- often weighed down by faceless balladry and canned Caribbean-isms -- Good Girl Gone Bad was a first-rate dance-pop album, stacked with several chart-topping singles and boasting collaborations with Jay-Z, Ne-Yo, Timbaland, and StarGate. The lead single, "Umbrella," shot to number one, as did "Take a Bow" and "Disturbia." Its success turned Rihanna into one of the planet's biggest pop stars.
Rated R was released in 2009 during the wake of a physical altercation with romantic interest Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty to felony assault. The album's lead single, "Russian Roulette" -- written with Ne-Yo -- was one of the year's most controversial singles, and it set the tone for the singer's new, dark direction. Rated R peaked within the Top Five of the Billboard 200, while another one of its singles, "Rude Boy," topped the Hot 100. Rated R: Remixed was released in the spring of 2010 and featured ten tracks from the album revamped for the dancefloor by Chew Fu.
Loud, Rihanna's fifth studio album, followed in November and was led by the StarGate-produced "Only Girl (In the World)." That song, as well as the follow-up singles "What's My Name?" and "S&M," all topped the Billboard Hot 100. In November 2011, shortly after Loud's "Cheers (Drink to That)" entered the Top Ten, the singer released Talk That Talk. The single "We Found Love" with Calvin Harris earned the top spot in the Hot 100, and the album peaked at number three.
Unapologetic, Rihanna's seventh studio album, featured some of her brashest material and was led by "Diamonds" -- her 18th Top Ten single. Unapologetic became her first number one album, and eventually produced further Top Ten hits in "Stay" and "Jump." By the fall of 2013, another record had fallen: her feature on Eminem's "The Monster" helped it hit number one on the pop charts, tying her with Michael Jackson for the most chart-toppers in Billboard chart history. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi





rihanna embarked on the 777 tour in november 2012 where she performed in 7 countries in 7 days leading up to the release of her seventh studio album unapologetic. that same year found the singer making her acting debut in the theatrical film “battleship.” most recently, rihanna voiced her first animated character, tip, in the dreamworks' film "home." in addition to providing three singles to the film's soundtrack, rihanna curated the entire compilation.




in addition, rihanna is an unstoppable force on the worldwide touring front, she is the first female solo artist to sell out 10 concerts at london’s o2 arena. her world tours, including the diamonds world tour that wrapped in 2013, have taken the icon to more than 100 countries each time, selling out arenas and stadiums. in 2014, rihanna was honored with the first ever icon award at the america music awards. rihanna's mother monica braithwaite presented her with the award in a heartwarming on-screen moment.




Born as Robyn Rihanna Fenty in 1988 in Barbados, Rihanna was like any other teenage girls of her age who attended high school and loved to sing for fun together with some friends. It all began to change drastically after she was introduced to Evan Rogers, a New York City music producer who is also the owner of Syndicated Rhythm Productions. Rogers and his Barbadian wife named Jackie happened to be in Barbados to spend their 2003 Christmas vacation near St. Michael, Rihanna's hometown. Impressed with her amazing voice, Rogers offered Rihanna to record some tracks in New York by spring.

Together with Rogers and his partner, Carl Sturken, Rihanna composed almost a dozen songs, taking inspiration from dancehall and ragamuffin which are the musical culture of her origin and blended them with R&B tunes. "My music is mostly Caribbean beats mixed with R&B," she described eagerly. "I don't want to be pigeon holed into being just a dance artist because I can sing too. I have ballads on the album as well as upbeat tracks."

Looking for a label, Rihanna landed her feet at Def Jam Recordings in which Shawn Carter or popularly known as Jay-Z has become the president as well as its CEO. Upon witnessing her performance, the acclaimed rapper quickly offered her a recording contract on the spot. She afterwards set out to collect materials for her debut album, co-writing most of its tracks. "Pon De Replay" eventually was released on May 25, 2005. The single turned out to be a great piece of music as it was labeled one of the summer's hottest jams in U.S..

Achieving success with "Pon De Replay," Rihanna put her hopes to repeat the same attainment on her first album "Music of the Sun" which was launched on August 30, 2005. With tracks featuring both Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel, it provided some serious heat to burn either radio stations or clubs throughout the country. It was truly like a dream coming true for the enchanting performer. "If I hadn't met Evan and Carl I might have just been dreaming forever. I am so thankful for everything they've done for me," Rihanna said gratefully. Dream or no dream, her debut album, recorded by RIAA, received Gold in U.S. and Platinum in several other countries. She was soon the highly anticipated act that Gwen Stefani tapped her to open her tour. ...

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Rihanna (born Robyn Rihanna Fenty; 20.2.1988) is the first female from Barbados to have received a Grammy Award and is currently signed to the Def Jam Recordings record label. She was presented with an area of land in Appes Hill, St. James, Barbados, in a tribute to her work.

Net worth: Rihanna's earnings are $43 million according to Forbes as of June 2013.

Rihanna's Childhood Born in Saint Michael, Barbados, Rihanna is the daughter of Ronald Fenty (of African and Irish descent) and Monica Fenty, who has a Guyanese ancestry. In Combermere Schoool, she formed a musical group with two of her classmates. In 2004, she was crowned Miss Combermere in a local beauty pageant, as well as performing in the 'Colours Of Combermere' school show. She received her big break aged 15, when a friend introduced her to Evan Rogers, a music producer who was on vacation on the island. Rogers and his partner, Carl Sturken recorded Rihanna's material in the U.S. and sent it to various record companies. One of these copies reached Jay-Z, who eventually signed her to his Def Jam label.

Musical Career: Rihanna has named Beyonce, Brandy Norwood and her upbringing in the Caribbean as the major influences on her music. Music Of the Sun was Rihanna's debut album, released in 2005. 'Pon de Replay' was one of the singles released from the album. The track was co-written by Rogers, Sturken and Rihanna and reached number two in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the UK singles chart. The album itself received platinum certification for selling over 2 million units worldwide and Rihanna promoted the album by touring as Gwen Stefani's opening act. The second single from the album, 'If It's Lovin' That You Want', was significantly less successful, reaching 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 11 in the UK charts. A third single, 'Let Me', was released in Japan only.

Less than eight months after the release of her debut album, Rihanna launched a second album, A Girl Like Me, in 2006. The album went into the U.S. charts at number five. And the main single from the track, 'SOS', was used in a Nike advertising campaign. 'SOS' became the first number one Billboard single for Rihanna. Her third top 10 U.S. hit came with 'Unfaithful', written by the R&B singer Ne-Yo, though its follow-up, 'We Ride' was less successful, which failed to chart in the Billboard Hot 100. 'Break It Off', featuring Sean Paul, was her fourth single from the album. Digital download sales helped the song jump from 52 to number 9.

Good Girl Gone Bad, her third album, was recorded with Timbaland, Ne-Yo and Stargate and released in 2007. Jay-Z and Ne-Yo also feature on the album and Justin Timberlake co-wrote 'Rehab' and sang backing vocals for the track. The album went three times platinum on the United World Albums Chart. The first single from the album, 'Umbrella', which featured Jay-Z, was a number one hit in a number of countries. In the UK, it was the longest running number one single since Wet Wet Wet's 'Love Is All Around' (1994) and the longest running number one by a female artist since Whitney Houston's 'I Will Always Love You' (1992). With 8,160,000 points on the United World Chart, it was the most successful song of 2007. 'Umbrella' was followed by the singles 'Shut Up And Drive', 'Don't Stop The Music' and 'Hate That I Love You'.

In November 2009, Rihanna released her fourth album 'Rated R', which featured guest spots from Slash, will.i.am and Jeezy. The album debuted at number four in the US Billboard 200 albums charts, selling 181,000 copies in the United States in its first week, giving Rihanna her highest first-week sales in the US at that time.

Rihanna released her fifth album 'Loud' in 2010. 'Loud' debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 207,000 copies in its first week, making it her fastest selling album at the time. The album featured guests Drake and Nicki Minaj and had some of Rihanna's most popular singles, namely 'What's My Name?' and 'Only Girl (In The World)'. That year saw her first collaboration with Eminem in the smash hit 'Love the Way You Lie'.

In 2011, Rihanna followed up 'Loud' with her sixth album 'Talk That Talk', which debuted at number three on the US Billboard 200, selling 198,000 copies in the United States. The album is platinum in the United States. Guest spots on this album included Jay-Z and Calvin Harris.

Rihanna's seventh album, 'Unapologetic' was released in November 2012. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 238,000 copies in its first week, giving Rihanna her first number one album in the United States and bestselling debut week of her career. Rihanna recruited previous producers, such as The-Dream, Chase & Status and David Guetta, to work with new producers such as Parker Ighile, Mike Will Made-It and Labrinth. The album has been certified platinum in the United States. The song 'Nobody's Business' caused controversy as it featured Rihanna's abusive ex-partner Chris Brown. Rihanna has received twenty-three Grammy nominations including record of the Year, Best Rap / Sung Collaboration, Best R&B performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals, Best Dance Recording. She also obtained seven Grammys including Song of the Year and Best R&B song.

Accolades attributed to Rihanna include: World's Best Selling Pop Female Artist and Entertainer of the Year at the World Music Awards, Favourite Female Artist - Soul / R&B at the American Music Awards, and best R&B song, for 'Shut Up and Drive' at the 2008 People's Choice Awards.

Personal Life: In 2009 it was reported that Rihanna's partner at the time, singer Chris Brown, had violently attacked her. Brown was charged for assault and making criminal threats and later pled guilty to felony assault. He was given five years' probation and a restraining order. In 2013, Rihanna admitted that she was once again in a relationship with Brown, however Brown stated that the two had broken up again in May that year. Rihanna also had a relationship with Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player Matt Kemp from late 2009 to 2010. Speculation also suggested she had dated rapper Drake.





Welcome, Robyn Rihanna
Monica, an accountant, and Ronald, a warehouse supervisor, welcome daughter Robyn Rihanna Fenton. Her childhood on the Caribbean island of Barbados is deeply affected by her father's addiction to crack cocaine and parent's rocky marriage, which ends when she's 14. The shy kid finds an outlet through singing.



Rihanna's First Grammy!
After making a splash with an even shorter do, Rihanna performs "Umbrella" and "Don’t Stop the Music" at the 2008 Grammy Awards. The 19-year-old singer also goes home with her first Grammy for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration with Jay-Z for her hit "Umbrella." During her acceptance speech, Rihanna says, "Dad, I know I promised you I'd give you my first Grammy, but we're going to have to fight for this one!"

Eminem

Pop stars from Elvis Presley to N.W.A to Marilyn Manson have flirted with and even flaunted controversy—but never with the uniform gusto of Eminem. On his 1999 major-label debut, The Slim Shady LP (Number Two pop, Number One R&B), the Detroit-based white rapper was willing to put anybody in his verbal crosshairs, including not only his detractors but himself, Kim, his wife and the mother of his daughter, and his own mother (who later ended up filing a defamation of character lawsuit against him). The following year's doubly venomous The Marshall Mathers LP (Number One pop, Number One R&B) raised/lowered the bar even more, drawing intense protest from gay, lesbian, religious, and women's groups, even as it became the fastest-selling rap album of all time and topped many critics' year-end best-of lists.

Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III just outside of Kansas City, Missouri. He never knew his father and was raised along with a younger half-brother by his mother, Debbie Mathers-Briggs, who moved the family to a predominately black neighborhood on the East side of Detroit when Mathers was 11. Although he was bullied and harassed by other kids on a regular basis, Mathers found a handful of friends who recognized his rhyming skills, and after failing ninth grade three years in a row, he dropped out of school and began competing in local freestyle throw-downs with his crew, the Dirty Dozen.

He released his first solo album, Infinite, on the local Web Entertainment label in 1996. It failed to garner much attention, but the followup, 1998's The Slim Shady EP, so impressed super-producer Dr. Dre that he signed Eminem to his Interscope imprint, Aftermath. The EP was expanded into the Dre-coproduced The Slim Shady LP, which debuted on the pop chart at Number Three in February 1999 and went on to sell three million copies and win Eminem a Grammy for Best Rap Album. Like the EP before it, the album showcased Eminem's maniacal alter ego Slim Shady — a homicidal comedian through whom Mathers enacted his most outrageous and perverse revenge fantasies. The catchy lead single "My Name Is" was a huge crossover success, climbing to Number 36 on the Hot 100 and eventually winning a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance. Meanwhile, moral watchdogs loudly protested darker fare on the album like "'97 Bonnie and Clyde," in which Eminem sings lovingly to his baby daughter while en route to dump her murdered mother in a body of water.

The combination of Eminem's unique, nasal delivery (many critics and artists, both black and white, hailed him as one of the best MCs in the world), crossover appeal, and willingness to attack and offend anything in his way without prejudice quickly established the young rapper as a seemingly unstoppable phenomenon—a fact further proven when The Marshall Mathers LP debuted at the top of the chart in 2000 with close to 1.7 million copies sold its first week in stores. It would eventually become one of only a handful of albums to achieve diamond certification, for sales of over 10 million copies.

The monster crossover hit came with "The Real Slim Shady" (Number Four pop, Number 11 R&B, 2000), while the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) led the protest charge, extremely alarmed over a recurring theme of hateful homophobia throughout the album. The debate peaked when openly gay rocker - and outspoken Eminem fan - Elton John performed with the rapper at the 2001 Grammy Awards ceremony (where Eminem won his second Best Rap Album trophy but lost Album of the Year to Steely Dan). Together, Eminem and John performed the song "Stan," a cautionary tale about a disturbed fan taking Eminem's violent Slim Shady fantasies too seriously. The album version of "Stan" drew its disarmingly pretty chorus from the song "Thank You" by English singer/songwriter Dido, whose own career subsequently took off due to the exposure.

In 2001, Eminem also made good on a promise to sign his Detroit crew, D12, to his new record label, Shady Records and the group—six members, including Eminem—released Devil's Night, which debuted at Number One and has sold over two million copies.

In the midst of all his critical and commercial success and the controversy stirred up over his lyrics, Eminem was besieged by lawsuits and run-ins with the law. In addition to his mother's defamation suit, Mathers was also sued by his estranged wife (the girlfriend he "killed" in "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" and again in "Kim" from The Marshall Mathers LP). The couple later reconciled and his wife dropped the suit, but the pair eventually divorced in 2001. Meanwhile, Mathers pleaded guilty to charges of carrying a concealed weapon in a criminal case stemming from a June 2000 incident in which he allegedly assaulted a man outside of a nightclub for kissing his wife. He received two years' probation.

In the summer of 2002, the MC returned with his third album, The Eminem Show, which sold over a million in its first week of release and went on to sell over 10 million copies—making Eminem the only artist in history with two diamond certified albums. On the first single, "Without Me," Em mocked the media storm that followed him wherever he went: "Everybody, just follow me/Cause we need a little controversy/Cause it feels so empty, without me." The single peaked at Number Two on Billboard's Hot 100—Em's highest placement to date—and was nominated for two Grammy in 2003: Record of the Year and Best Male Rap Solo Performance. "Cleanin' Out My Closet," also from The Eminem Show, peaked at Number Four on the Hot 100.

In November, 2002, Eminem starred as himself (renamed "Rabbit") in 8 Mile, a dramatization of his coming of age as an aspiring MC in Detroit, co-starring Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, and Mekhi Phifer. The rapper earned critical acclaim for his acting in the film and even more for its soundtrack and standout track "Lose Yourself," which was Eminem's first song to hit Number One on the Hot 100 and also earned the rapper an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003.

Eminem returned in November 2004 with Encore, which sold 700,000 copies in its first three days of release and 2.8 million in the first two weeks. On this, Eminem's fourth studio album, on which alter ego Slim Shady takes a final bow, the lyrics are noticeably more restrained, less antagonistic. It did strike notes of controversy, however, notably for anti-war track "Mosh" (which references "this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president") and "Just Lose It," which poked fun at Michael Jackson over allegations of child molestation, plastic surgery, and the incident when his hair caught fire during a Pepsi commercial shoot. The attack angered some prominent African-Americans, notably Stevie Wonder and Steve Harvey, who said on his radio show, "Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back."

A year later, Eminem released a greatest hits album called Curtain Call: The Hits, leading some to think the rapper was retiring, a possibility he bolstered when he told a Detroit radio show "This is the reason that we called it 'Curtain Call', because this could be the final thing. We don't know." In August, 2005, the rapper entered a rehab facility to treat a dependency on sleeping pills. Eminem later credited his former duet partner Elton John for helping him overcome his addiction.

After a long hiatus from recording, Eminem returned in 2009, releasing Relapse in May and Relapse 2 in August. Neither album sold as well as the rapper's career-defining earlier efforts, but both went platinum and re-established him as a force with the pop universe.


Eminem, born Marshall Bruce Mathers III, 17 October 1973, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. This white rapper burst onto the US charts in 1999 with a controversial take on the horrorcore genre. Mathers endured an itinerant childhood, living with his mother in various states before eventually ending up in Detroit at the age of 12. He took up rapping in high school before dropping out in ninth grade, joining ad hoc groups Basement Productions, the New Jacks, and D12. The newly named Eminem released a raw debut album in 1997 through independent label FBT. Infinite was poorly received, however, with Eminem earning unfavourable comparisons to leading rappers such as Nas and AZ. His determination to succeed was given a boost by a prominent feature in Source's Unsigned Hype column, and he gained revenge on his former critics when he won the Wake Up Show's Freestyle Performer Of The Year award, and finished runner-up in Los Angeles' annual Rap Olympics. The following year's The Slim Shady EP, named after his sinister alter-ego, featured some vitriolic attacks on his detractors. The stand-out track, "Just Don't Give A fuck", became a highly popular underground hit, and led to guest appearances on MC Shabaam Sahddeq's "Five Star Generals" single and Kid Rock's Devil Without A Cause set. As a result, Eminem was signed to Aftermath Records by label boss Dr. Dre, who adopted the young rapper as his protege and acted as co-producer on Eminem's full-length debut. Dre's beats featured prominently on The Slim Shady LP, a provocative feast of violent, twisted lyrics, with a moral outlook partially redeemed by Eminem's claim to be only "voicing" the thoughts of the Slim Shady character. Parody or no parody, lyrics to tracks such as "97 Bonnie & Clyde" (which contained lines about killing the mother of his child) and frequent verbal outbursts about his mother were held by many, outside even the usual Christian moral majority, to be deeply irresponsible. The album was buoyed by the commercial success of the singles "My Name Is" and "Guilty Conscience" (the former helped by a striking, MTV-friendly video), and climbed to number 2 on the US album chart in March 1999.

Eminem subsequently made high profile appearances on Rawkus Records' Soundbombing Volume 2 compilation and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott's Da Real World. He was also in the news when his mother filed a lawsuit claiming that comments made by the rapper during interviews and on The Slim Shady LP had caused, amongst other things, emotional distress, damage to her reputation and loss of self-esteem. None of which harmed the sales of Eminem's follow-up album, The Marshall Mathers LP, which debuted at number 1 on the US album chart in May 2000 and established him as the most successful rapper since the mid-90s heyday of 2Pac and Snoop Doggy Dogg. By the end of the year, however, his troubled personal life and a serious assault charge had removed the gloss from his phenomenal commercial success. Despite criticism from gay rights groups, the rapper swept up three Grammy Awards the following February. He also reunited with his D12 colleagues to record the transatlantic chart-topping Devil's Night.



Eminem's new studio album, The Eminem Show, was premiered by single "Without Me". The track, which debuted at UK number 1 in May 2002, featured a sample from Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Girls" and was supported by a controversial video which saw the rapper dressing up as Osama Bin Laden. The album debuted at number 1 on both sides of the Atlantic. Later in the year, Eminem made his mainstream acting debut in 8 Mile. The lead single from the soundtrack, "Lose Yourself", gave the rapper his first US number 1 single in November.

Although he's only been in the public eye since 1999, Marshall Mathers (aka Eminem) has crammed at least a decade's worth of career highs and lows into those few short, high-profile years. The Detroit-based Dr. Dre protégé has invoked the wrath of women and homosexuals with his offensive lyrics; become enemies with Moby, Everlast, Fred Durst, and Christina Aguilera; provided tabloids with plenty of gossip fodder regarding his personal life...and in the process become just about the biggest rock star on the planet. This is because Eminem isn't just about controversy and shock value: This often misunderstood major talent has actually given white rappers genuine credibility in this post-Vanilla Ice age with his string of dynamic hits (both solo and with his side group, D12), his plethora of Grammy nominations, his critically acclaimed film 8 Mile, and his three multiplatinum studio albums, which--once one gets past the hype and hullabaloo that surround them--are some of the most creative, original, and exciting releases of the rap genre (or any musical genre) in the past decade.

Mathers was born into a poor, working-class family on October 17, 1972 in St. Joseph, Missouri, though he spent much of his youth in Detroit, the city he would eventually put on the rap map. Originally taking on the stage name M&M (later changed to its current spelling), at age 14 he became a battle rapper, competing against other Detroit MCs in local clubs. After a short stint with a rap act called New Jacks, in 1995 he made his recording debut with a group called Soul Intent, which introduced him to a rapper named Proof, who appeared on that single's B-side. Eminem and Proof soon started a new group called D12 with four other MCs (Bizarre, Kon Artis, Swift, and Kuniva), while Eminem simultaneously launched his solo career with two independent releases, 1996's Infinite and 1997's The Slim Shady EP, which featured his trademark dark, disturbing, angry lyrics. Eminem drew from his troubled personal life when penning such bleak words: He had just had a daughter with his on/off girlfriend, Kim, with whom he had a very tumultuous relationship; he was estranged from his mother, with whom he also frequently butted heads; he was abusing alcohol and drugs with alarming frequency; and he had attempted suicide on at least one occasion. Though these harrowing experiences provided inspiration for some brilliant if nasty and offensive lyrics, Mathers was at such a low point in his life that it seemed there was nowhere to go but up.

Enter Interscope Records honcho Jimmy Iovine, who--impressed by Eminem's fresh and bold style--approached the struggling rapper after seeing him take second place in the freestyle category at 1997's Rap Olympics. Iovine later played Eminem's demo tape for super-producer and former Death Row Records chief/NWA member Dr. Dre, who immediately liked what he heard, contacted Eminem, and started a fruitful creative partnership with Eminem that exists to this day. (Legend has it that the two recorded Eminem's first big hit single, "My Name Is," within an hour after first meeting each other.) Interscope quickly signed Mathers, and Dre produced his major-label debut album, The Slim Shady LP, which was released in February 1999 to both massive acclaim and derision, eventually going triple-platinum.

Eminem's follow-up, 2000's Marshall Mathers LP, was an even bigger phenomenon, selling almost 2 million copies in its first week of release alone, thus becoming the fastest-selling hip-hop album of all time. However, the album stirred up even more of an uproar than its predecessor, making Mathers the target of much public hatred. Among other conflicts and controversies, the album created a feud with pop princess Christina Aguilera (the single "The Real Slim Shady" alleged that she had performed oral sex on both Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst and MTV's Carson Daly); led his mother to file a defamation lawsuit against him (a judge later dismissed the case); and generated accusations of homophobia and sexism mostly centering around the songs "Kill You" and "Kim" (the latter a rant about the mother of his child, whom he had recently married but would soon divorce, and later reconcile with yet again). But Eminem thrived on the controversy, becoming an even bigger superstar and racking up a surprising number of Grammy nominations in 2001, much to the chagrin of his many outspoken detractors. And he kept people guessing about how much of the Slim Shady "character" was really the real deal, when he performed a duet version of his single "Stan" with the openly gay Elton John at the Grammys ceremony, even warmly hugging Elton onstage. Mathers won three Grammys that night--Best Rap Solo Performance (for "The Real Slim Shady"), Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group (for his work on the Dr. Dre duet "Forgot About Dre"), and Best Rap Album (for The Marshall Mathers LP)--adding to the two statuettes he'd won the previous year for "My Name Is" (Best Rap Solo Performance) and The Slim Shady LP (Best Rap Album).

There seemed no stopping Eminem--not even convictions on weapons and assault charges (stemming from separate incidents involving his estranged wife with another man and rival Detroit rap act Insane Clown Posse). Eminem was sentenced to community service and kept on recording, releasing Devil's Night with old group D12 in 2001 and then The Eminem Show, one of the most critically heralded albums of 2002 and his most personal work yet. He also revealed more of his real-life persona in 8 Mile, a Rocky-style feelgood flick lensed by L.A. Confidential/Wonder Boys director Curtis Hanson that presented a sort of cleaned-up version of Eminem's rags-to-riches life story. Eminem put on such an impressive performance in the film that there was actually speculation that he would receive a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars in 2003.

While Eminem may have seemed like a novelty act at first--with his shocking, four-letter lyrics, cartoonish bad-boy image, and, of course, pale skin color (a real anomaly in hip-hop)--he has since established himself as one of the most important artists of his time and a true force to be reckoned with, continuing to cross both color boundaries and genre boundaries with his edgy, rock-tinged raps. With his turbulent personal life, powder-keg temper, and tendency to tangle with the law, it is still uncertain how long his career will last before he burns out, but it's already obvious that his music had made history and will long outlast any controversy that dogs him.

- Lyndsey Parker
Eminem Biography 3

In a few short months, Eminem has gone from being one of the most heralded emcees in independent hip-hop to one of the most provocative, controversial rappers in contemporary pop music. The overnight success of his debut album, The Slim Shady LP, literally rocked the rap world, making him one of the biggest music success stories of 1999. But Eminem is more than the latest rap artist to blow up. He's spent the last several years paying his dues, and his lyrics, which cover topics such as poverty and single parenthood, reflect a rough upbringing. His unlikely acceptance by the pop mainstream has made some wonder how his popularity will affect the future of hip-hop music.

Before he had the world singing along to "My Name Is ...," he was Marshall Mathers, a poor kid growing up in Warren, Mich. "It's like the real, stereotypical, trailer park, white trash," Eminem told Rap Pages earlier this year. As a child, he and his mother moved constantly, staying at relatives' homes in places as disparate as Warren and Kansas City, Mo. As a result, Marshall found it difficult to make friends, and he retreated into his comic books and television. "I didn't really start opening up until eighth grade, going into ninth," he said.

When Mathers was 12, his mother finally settled down on the east side of Detroit. There, he attended Lincoln Junior High School and Osbourne High School, hanging out with friends and listening to artists like LL Cool J and the 2 Live Crew. He battled against other rappers at his high school, and quickly gained a reputation as a nimble rhymer. But his penchant for skipping school led him to fail the ninth grade. After dropping out of high school, he held down several odd jobs, while continuing to work on his craft. "I tried to go back to school five years ago," he said, "but I couldn't do it. I just wanted to rap and be a star one day."

Mathers rapped in several groups such as Basement Productions, the New Jacks, and Sole Intent, before deciding to go solo. In 1997, he released an album, Infinite, through a local company called FBT Productions; it was met with derision from the local hip-hop community. "I was getting a lot of feedback saying I sounded like Nas or Jay-Z," he admitted. Despite the criticism, Eminem continued to promote himself through shows and appearances at radio stations and freestyle competitions across the nation. His perseverance garnered him a notice in the Source's influential "Unsigned Hype" column. Later that year, he won the 1997 Wake Up Show Freestyle Performer of the Year from L.A. DJs Sway and Tech, and earned second place in Rap Sheet magazine's "Rap Olympics," an annual freestyle rap competition.

In 1998, Eminem put out The Slim Shady EP, which contained the original version of "Just Don't Give A Fuck" "Slim Shady is the evil side of me, the sarcastic, foul-mouthed side of me," he said during an interview with the Source. The EP made him an underground star, and Eminem was invited to appear on underground MC Shabaam Sahdeeq's "Five Star Generals" single, Kid Rock's Devil Without a Cause, and other rap releases. At the end of the year, Eminem put out a popular 12-inch, "Nuttin' to Do/ Scary Movies," with fellow Detroit rapper Royce the 5'9".

Meanwhile, a copy of The Slim Shady EP made its way into the hands of Dr. Dre, the legendary creator of The Chronic and N.W.A., and current president of Aftermath Entertainment. Dr. Dre quickly signed Eminem to his label, and the two began preparing The Slim Shady EP for a full-fledged release, adding songs like "My Name Is ..." and "Guity Conscience." Early in 1999, Eminem made the world take notice with his charismatic video for "My Name Is ..." parodying everyone from Marilyn Manson to the President of the United States. Shortly afterward, The Slim Shady LP debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard Album Chart. Its sensationalistic depiction of rampant drug use, rape, sex, and violence horrified some; equally disturbing was Eminem's various four-letter-word insults directed at his mother and songs like "'97 Bonnie and Clyde," where Eminem fantasized about killing the mother of his child.

In defense, Eminem claimed that he was just speaking his mind. "I do feel like I'm coming from a standpoint where people don't realize there are a lot of poor white people," he explained in the Source. "Rap music kept my mind off all the bulls--t I had to go through." His cynical take on life struck a chord with millions of rap fans, and drove The Slim Shady LP to double-platinum-plus sales. He began to tour, including a solo jaunt with the Beatnuts and Mixmaster Mike.

While most in the hip-hop community greeted Eminem with open arms, others took a more cautious approach, wondering why rock stations across the country who never played rap music added "My Name Is ..." to their playlists. Was it because Eminem was the first "legitimate" white rapper to gain widespread popularity? "I'm white in a music started by black people. I'm not ignorant to the culture and I'm not trying to take anything away from the culture," he said in his defense. "But no one has a choice where they grew up or what color they are. If you're a rich kid or a ghetto kid you have no control over your circumstance. The only control you have is to get out of your situation or stay in it."

Throughout the year, Eminem has continued to record for other artists, making appearances on Sway and Tech's This or That compilation, DJ Spinna's Heavy Beats Vol. 1, Missy Elliott's Da Real World, the Soundbombing 2 compilation, and Dr. Dre's highly anticipated sequel to The Chronic, Chronic 2001: No Seeds. And in June and July of 1999, the rapper took to the road with the Warped tour, filling in for Cypress Hill, who decided to forgo the tour in favor of recording its next album.

After wrapping up his touring commitments, Eminem plans to take a short break before returning to the studio to record the follow up to The Slim Shady LP. In the meantime, he can bask in the glow of his many awards. Not only is he up for Best New Artist in the Source's Hip-Hop Music Awards, he also garnered four MTV Video Music Awards -- "My Name Is ..." nabbed nods for Best Male Video, Best New Artist, and Best Director, and "Guilty Conscience" earned him a Breakthrough Video nomination.


The average rapper wouldn't be able to grace the pages of Rap Pages, VIBE, Rolling Stone, Spin, The Source, URB and Stress and go on a national tour months before their major-label debut album is released. Then again, Eminem isn't an average rapper. He's phenomenal.

The impending release of the The Slim Shady LP, his first set on Aftermath/Interscope Records, already has underground hip-hop heads fiending for Eminem. Chock full of dazzling lyrical escapades that delve into the mind of a violently warped and vulgar yet extremely talented wordsmith, the 14-cut collection contains some of the most memorable and demented lyrics ever recorded.

For Eminem, his potentially controversial and undoubtedly offensive songs will strike a chord with a multitude of hip-hop loyalists who believe they have little to lose and everything to gain.

"I'm not alone in feeling the way I feel," he says. "I believe that a lot of people can relate to my shit--whether white, black, it doesn't matter. Everybody has been through some shit, whether it's drastic or not so drastic. Everybody gets to the point of 'I don't give a fuck.'"

Those words are more than just a slogan for the Detroit resident. "I Just Don't Give A Fuck" and "Brain Damage" are the two songs comprising Eminem's initial single from The Slim Shady LP. Each tune is sure to paralyze meek listeners with their relentless lyrical assault. Produced primarily by long-time collaborators FBT Productions, the Slim Shady LP also features beatwork from Aftermath CEO Dr. Dre. The N.W.A. alum handled beats for "My Name Is" (the second single), "Guilty Conscience" and "Role Model."

Dr. Dre was so impressed after hearing Eminem freestyling on a Los Angeles radio station that he put out a manhunt for the Michigan rhymer. Shortly thereafter, Dre signed Eminem to his Aftermath imprint and the two began working together. Thoroughly impressed with Eminem's previously released independent Slim Shady EP, Dre said they would include many of the EP's tracks on the album.

"It was an honor to hear the words out of Dre's mouth that he liked my shit," Eminem says. "Growing up, I was one of the biggest fans of N.W.A, from putting on the sunglasses and looking in the mirror and lipsinking to wanting to be Dr. Dre, to be Ice Cube. This is the biggest hip-hop producer ever."

But like many other rappers, Eminem's rise to stardom was far from easy. After being born in Kansas City and traveling back and forth between KC and the Detroit metropolitan area, Eminem and his mother moved into the Eastside of Detroit when he was 12. Switching schools every two to three months made it difficult to make friends, graduate and to stay out of trouble.

Rap, however, became Eminem's solace. Battling schoolmates in the lunchroom brought joy to what was otherwise a painful existence. Although he would later drop out of school and land several minimum-wage-paying, full-time jobs, his musical focus remained constant.

Eminem released his debut album, Infinite, in 1996. Desperate to be embraced by the Motor City's hip-hop scene, Eminem rapped in such a manner that he was accused of sounding like Nas and AZ.

"Infinite was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself," he recalls. "It was a growing stage. I felt like Infinite was like a demo that just got pressed up."

After being thoroughly disappointed and hurt by the response Infinite received, Eminem began working on what would later become the Slim Shady EP -- a project he made for himself. Featuring several scathing lines about local music industry personalities as well as devious rants about life in general, the set quickly caught the ear of hip-hop's difficult-to-please underground.

"I had nothing to lose, but something to gain," Eminem says of that point in his life. "If I made an album for me and it was to my satisfaction, then I succeeded. If I didn't, then my producers were going to give up on the whole rap thing we were doing. I made some shit that I wanted to hear. The Slim Shady EP, I lashed out on everybody who talked shit about me."

By presenting himself as himself, Eminem and his career took off. Soon after giving the Rap Coalition's Wendy Day a copy of the Infinite album at a chance meeting, she helped the aspiring lyrical gymnast secure a spot at the Coalition's 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, where he won second place in the freestyle competition. During the trip, Eminem and his manager, Paul Rosenberg, gave a few people from Interscope Records his demo and he made his major radio debut on the world famous Wake Up Show with Sway and Tech. Realizing that this was the opportunity of his lifetime, Eminem delivered a furious medley of lyrics that wowed his hosts and radio audience alike.

"I felt like it's my time to shine," Eminem says of that performance. "I have to rip this. At that time, I felt that it was a life or death situation."

Eminem would soon record the underground classic "5 Star Generals." This record helped establish him in Japan, New York and Los Angeles. It also helped him earn a spot on the inaugural Lyricist Lounge tour, which took him to stages from Philadelphia to Los Angeles.

Set to take the hip-hop world by storm with his unique lyrical approach and punishing production, Eminem and his The Slim Shady LP are sure to have listeners captivated.

"I do say things that I think will shock people," he says. "But I don't do things to shock people. I'm not trying to be the next Tupac, but I don't know how long I'm going to be on this planet. So while I'm here, I might as well make the most of it."


Who would have guessed that a white boy from Michigan would be the one to move today's jaded hip-hop world? Without any warning, Eminem burst onto the rap scene spouting more vulgarity than ever with his first 14-cut collection, The Slim Shady LP, distributed by Aftermath/Interscope Records. "I Just Don't Give a F--k," the signature piece on his demented album, and "Brain Damage," which literally did just that to listeners, are the two most notable songs exhibiting for his dirty mouth. So good, in fact, that legendary rap artist/producer Dr. Dre scouted the angry chirpster after hearing him freestyle on the radio to collaborate on Dre's own label, Aftermath. The impressed Dre did not hesitate to include many of Slim's independently released EP tracks as Eminem jumped at the offer to work with "the biggest hip-hop producer ever."

As randomly offensive as his lyrics may seem, Eminem has mastered his talent into a form of reclaiming his pride. He spent his childhood roaming from his birthplace, Kansas City, to Detroit with his mother, never being able to find a stable hometown and school. Hence he pursued a life and identity in the hip-hop culture by releasing a debut album, Infinite, in 1996. Ironically, the response to his debut stifled his self-expression as he was labelled as a Nas and AZ sound-alike. Ripe for revenge, Eminem bombarded his critics with The Slim Shady EP, which not only gave the rapper a chance at originality but also at stirring controversy with his remorseless tunes of fury.

Yet it would do him no justice to dismiss him as a spiteful cursing machine. His fascinating freestyle ability is easy to underestimate or even recognize with the scorching flames blowing out of his mouth. At the start of his rap career, Eminem personally sent a copy of his overlooked debut album to Wendy Day from the Rap Coalition. Her nod of approval got him into the Coalition's 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, where he was honoured with second place in the freestyle competition. With the help of his manager, Paul Rosenberg, Interscope Records got a hold of his demo. Finally Eminem decided that it was his "time to shine" on his radio debut on the world-famous Wake Up Show with Sway and Tech by spewing a most ferocious lyrical mix that literally slapped the faces of the hosts and listeners wide awake. His underground classic "5 Star General" stretched out to Japan, New York, and Los Angeles, which also won him a spot on the inaugural Lyricist Lounge tour.

Before long, Eminem was a superstar and one of music's most controversial figures. His shocking lyrics (both solo and with side posse D12), his duet with Elton John, his public trials with his on/off wife and estranged mother...all of these things and more kept him in the public eye so often, he made Tommy Lee look like a social recluse. But Eminem's music kept his profile high too, as his Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers LPs sold by the millions; the latter was even nominated for several Grammys, including album of the year.

In the age of bored and hungry hip-hopsters, Eminem, with his fiery eyes and blazing lyrics, has broken into the rap and hip-hop dome by melting the image of the sold-out Vanilla Ice. You may hate his anger, but it's his only ammunition, and as long he is who he is, Eminem is going to take nothing back.

Famous rapper Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972 in Saint Joseph, Missouri, USA. He is the son of a fifteen-year-old mother at the time of his birth and a father who left six months later and never returned. Spending most of his childhood moving back and forth between Saint Joseph and suburban Detroit, Michigan, he finally settled on the Eastside of Detroit when he was 12.

Formerly studying at Lincoln High School in Warren from 1986 to 1989, Marshall often switched schools every two or three months. It made him difficult to make friends and stay out of trouble. Failing at the 9th grade three times until finally dropping out, he said he wasn't stupid. He said he was not interested in school because all he wanted to do was rap.

Marshall began rapping at the early age of 4 and started pursuing career seriously at the age of 14. That was the time when he began performing rap in the basement of his high school friend's home. At 17, he eventually made a name for himself, Eminem, which was taken from his initials M(arshall) M(athers). Hip-Hop community, used to black rapper, refused the white Eminem, who at the end found the easiest way to win underground hip-hop society by becoming a battle rapper performing in several clubs and forcing himself on radio shows.

He wasn't immediately accepted by public, but as time went by he proved himself as a qualified rapper. Getting some offers to join several other rappers to start a group, Em joined the New Jacks and then moved to Soul Intent and produced his first recorded single with them in 1995. It was a rapper named Proof who then asked Eminem to start a new group because he enjoyed working with him. With their 4 other friends, Proof and Eminem were both in one group named D12, each of whom ended up focusing more on their solo careers rather than their collaboration, leading to a career break.

It was the birth of Em's first child, Hailie Jade Scott on December 25, 1995 with longtime girlfriend Kim Scott, that encouraged him to work harder for the money his family needed. It was difficult for him who had nothing except the "sucks" life experiences he used as the topic of his rap lyrics. One year later that was in 1996, Eminem recorded his


Learning from his previous failure, he soon introduced Slim Shady, an alter ego that wasn't afraid to say whatever he felt. Working on the song with all his heart and strength, Em poured his heart out and reflected his feelings toward his mother who was accused of physically and mentally abusing his younger brother.

In 1997, Kimberly Ann Scott left him and forbade him to see their child. The frustration sent Eminem to a frequent rate of drug abuse and alcohol that surely affected his composition. Once committing suicide, he finally realized the best and only way to escape from his unhappy life was his musical ambition. Such depression led him to release the brutal "The Slim Shady EP", which he actually filled with some of the composition he had written long time before. Due to his distinctly-exaggerated, nasal-voiced rapping style and his skin color, many people named him music's next "great white hope."

He finally signed a contract with Interscope and was taken under Dr. Dre's wing, allowing him to record a full-length CD. Both then started to record "My Name Is" before Dre finally agreeing to produce Em's first album, with "Just Don't Give A F*ck" single as the album preview. A reconciliation with Kimberly Ann Scott led them to a marriage held in the fall of 1998.

In early 1999, he released "The Slim Shady LP" that spawned hits "My Name Is" and "Guilty Conscience". Over the next years the album went triple platinum, leaving the pros and cons over the album's lyrics far behind. His success continued with "The Marshall Mathers LP" released in the summer of 2000. It sold 1.76 million copies in its first week of release in the U.S., a record for a solo artist, successfully won 3 Grammies and became the first rap album ever to be nominated Abum of the Year.

As the fame and popularity came, many more controversies arose due to some riots Eminem had caused, including a scuffle with the Insane Clown Posse's employees in a car stereo shop; a battle with pop singer Christina Aguilera; a lawsuit from his mother; and an attack on a Detroit club goers.

Those accusations inspired him to produce two other songs, entitled "Kill You" and "Kim." In the latter song, he rapped about violently murdering his own wife that in reality drew her


Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Deborah R. (Nelson) and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr., who were in a band together, Daddy Warbucks. He is of English, as well as some German, Scottish, and Swiss-German, ancestry. Marshall spent his early childhood being shoved back and forth from Kansas City and Detroit. He settled on the Eastside of Detroit when he was 12. Switching schools every two to three months made it difficult to make friends, graduate and to stay out of trouble. Marshall attended Lincoln High School in Warren, Michigan, 1986-1989.

Being a rap fan for most of his life, Marshall began rapping at the early age of 4. Rhyming words together, battling schoolmates in the lunchroom brought joy to what was otherwise a painful existence. At the age of 14, he began to get very serious about his rapping but it wasn't until he was 17 that he actually made a name for himself, becoming M&M, which he would later respell as "Eminem". Being rejected by most fellow rappers because of his race, Marshall grew an anger that flows through his music to this day. After failing the 9th grade for three times in a row, he quit school, but has remarked that he does not consider himself stupid and does not advise that people should follow his example. He says that it just wasn't for him. Forcing himself on radio shows, freestyle battles, Marshall threw himself head first into the rap game, where he was swallowed up most of the time. His very first album was titled "Infinite" and, while the album sold less than a thousand copies, it was the gearing up stages for the rapper who became a millionaire. It was then that his daughter, Hailie Jade Scott, was born on December 25th of 1995 with long time girlfriend Kim Scott.

Having nothing to lose at all, flat broke and not knowing where he would be living the next week, Marshall set out to rant about life in general, the set quickly caught the ear of hip-hop's difficult-to-please underground. What came out of this was the Slim Shady EP, the early work for the later Dr. Dre revised Slim Shady LP. Down to nearly his last dime, he went into the 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, basically hoping to win the $1,500 cash prize which he badly needed. After battling for an hour and throwing back every race diss thrown at him, Marshall made it to second place losing in a slip up. Furious that he had lost, Marshall didn't even notice that he had been spotted. In the crowd were a few producers from Interscope, and they were handed a copy of the "Infinite" tape by way of a demo.

Dr. Dre got to hear it and eventually tracked him down. The two instantly hit it off, recording four songs in their first six hours of working - three which made it to his first LP. After the album was finished, Dr. Dre asked Marshall to come work with him on his new album. He helped produce several tracks and was on the best songs of the album. Now officially making it, Marshall and Dre set to make his second LP. The album became the Marshall Mathers LP and won 3 Grammies and was the first rap album ever to be nominated "Album of the Year", selling more than 8 million records in the United States alone. He also stunned critics when he shot down all homophobic remarks by performing "Stan" with Elton John. Eminem made a movie, 8 Mile (2002). Though 2001 was a rough year for the rapper, being charged with weapon offenses, divorcing his wife, and almost going to prison, Marshall has explained his life in one word: "Claimer".

To call Eminem hip-hop's Elvis is correct to a degree, but it's largely inaccurate. Certainly, Eminem was the first white rapper since the Beastie Boys to garner both sales and critical respect, but his impact exceeded this confining distinction. On sheer verbal skills, Eminem was one of the greatest MCs of his generation -- rapid, fluid, dexterous, and unpredictable, as capable of pulling off long-form narrative as he was delivering a withering aside -- and thanks to his mentor Dr. Dre, he had music to match: thick, muscular loops that evoked the terror and paranoia Em's music conjured. And, to be certain, a great deal of the controversy Eminem courted -- and during the turn of the millennium, there was no greater pop cultural bogeyman than Marshall Mathers -- came through in how his violent fantasias, often directed at his mother or his wife, intertwined with flights of absurdity that appealed to listeners too young to absorb the psychodramas Eminem explored on his hit albums, The Slim Shady LP and The Marshall Mathers LP. With hits "My Name Is" and "The Real Slim Shady," he ruled the airwaves, but it wasn't long before some detractors acknowledged his depth, helped in part by singles like the mournful "Stan," written from the perspective of an obsessed fan. Eminem capitalized on this forward momentum by crossing over onto the big screen with 8 Mile, earning acclaim for his performance and an Oscar for the film's anthem "Lose Yourself," but a number of demons led him to shut down for the second half of the decade, an absence that proved life is indeed empty without Em, before he returned in 2009 with Relapse.
Born Marshall Mathers in the Kansas City suburb St. Joseph, Eminem spent his childhood between Missouri and Michigan, settling in Detroit by his teens. At the age of 14, he began rapping with a high-school friend, the two adopting the names "Manix" and "M&M," which soon morphed into Eminem. Under this name, Mathers entered battle rapping, a struggle dramatized in the fictionalized 8 Mile. Initially, the predominantly African-American audience didn't embrace Eminem, but soon his skills gained him a reputation, and he was recruited to join several rap groups. The first of these was the New Jacks, and after they disbanded, he joined Soul Intent, who released a single in 1995. This single also featured Proof, and the two rappers broke off on their own to form D-12, a six-member crew that functioned more as a Wu-Tang-styled collective than a regularly performing group.
As he was struggling to establish his career, he and his girlfriend Kim had a daughter, Hailey, forcing him to spend less time rapping and more time providing for his family. During this time, he assembled his first album, Infinite, which received some underground attention in 1996, not all of it positive. After its release, Eminem developed his Slim Shady alter ego, a persona that freed him to dig deep into his dark id, something he needed as he faced a number of personal upheavals, beginning with a bad split with Kim, which led him to move in with his mother and increase his use of drugs and alcohol, capped off with an unsuccessful suicide attempt. All this Sturm und Drang was channeled into The Slim Shady EP, which is where he first demonstrated many of the quirks that became his trademark, including his twitchy, nasal rhyming and disturbingly violent imagery.
The Slim Shady EP opened many doors, the most notable of them being a contract with Interscope Records. After Eminem came in second at the 1997 Rap Olympics MC Battle in Los Angeles, Interscope head Jimmy Iovine sought out the rapper, giving the EP to Dr. Dre, who proved eager to work with Eminem. They quickly cut Em's Interscope debut in the fall of 1998 -- during which time Marshall reconciled with Kim and married her -- and The Slim Shady LP appeared early in 1999, preceded by the single "My Name Is." Both were instant blockbusters and Eminem turned into a lightning rod for attention, earning praise and disdain for his violent, satirical fantasias.
Eminem quickly followed The Slim Shady LP with The Marshall Mathers LP in the summer of 2000. By this point, there was little doubt that Eminem was one of the biggest stars in pop music: the album sold by the truckload, selling almost two million copies within the first two weeks of release, but Mathers felt compelled to tweak other celebrities, provoking pop stars in his lyrics, and Insane Clown Posse's entourage in person, providing endless fodder for tabloids. This gossip blended with growing criticism about his violent and homophobic lyrics, and under this fire, he reunited his old crew, D-12, releasing an album in 2001, then touring with the group.
During this furor, he had his biggest hit in the form of the moody ballad "Stan." Performed at the Grammys as a duet with Elton John, thereby undercutting some accusations of homophobia, the song helped Eminem to cross over to a middlebrow audience, setting the stage for the ultimate crossover of 2001's 8 Mile. Directed by Curtis Hanson, best known as the Oscar-nominated director of L.A. Confidential, the gritty drama fictionalized Eminem's pre-fame Detroit days and earned considerable praise, culminating in one of his biggest hits with the theme "Lose Yourself," which won Mathers an Oscar.
After all this, he retreated from the spotlight to record his third album, The Eminem Show. Preceded by the single "Without Me," the album turned into another huge hit, albeit not quite as strong as its predecessor, and there were some criticisms suggesting that Eminem wasn't expanding his horizons much. Encore, released late in 2004, did reach into more mature territory, notably on the anti-George W. Bush "Mosh," but most of the controversy generated by the album was for behind-the-scenes events: a bus crash followed by canceled dates and a stint in rehab. Rumors of retirement flew, and the 2005 appearance of Curtain Call: The Hits did nothing to dampen them, nor did the turmoil of 2006, a year that saw Mathers re-marrying and divorcing Kim within a matter of four months, as well as the shooting death of Proof at a Detroit club.
During all this, Em did some minor studio work, but soon he dropped off the radar completely, retreating to his Detroit home. He popped up here and there, most notably debuting the hip-hop channel Shade 45 for Sirius Satellite Radio in September 2008, but it wasn't until early 2009 that he mounted a comeback with Relapse, an album whose very title alluded to some of Mathers' struggles with prescription drugs, but it also announced that after an extended absence, Slim Shady was back. While not quite a blockbuster, the album went platinum, and Eminem followed it at the end of the year with an expanded version of Relapse (dubbed Relapse: Refill) that added outtakes and new recordings. Recovery, initially titled Relapse 2, was issued in June 2010. The album debuted on top of the Billboard 200 chart, where it remained for five consecutive weeks, while its leadoff single, "Not Afraid," debuted on top of the magazine's Hot 100 singles chart.
The year 2010 also brought Eminem back together with Royce da 5'9" under the Bad Meets Evil moniker. In turn, June 2011's Hell: The Sequel marked the release of their first EP as a duo and -- barring the previous month's release of key EP track "Fastlane" as a single -- was their first batch of new material since a 1999 double A-side. After an intense period of recording, Eminem announced in August 2013 that his next solo album would be a nostalgically themed set of new material entitled The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which landed in early November. The album featured the singles "Berzerk," "Rap God," and "Survival," plus the chart-topping hit "The Monster" with Rihanna. In 2014, new tracks landed on the double-disc set Shady XV, which celebrated the Shady label's 15th birthday. The singles "Phenomenal" and "Kings Never Die" featuring Gwen Stefani arrived a year later, both of them sourced from the Southpaw soundtrack. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Eminem, byname of Marshall Bruce Mathers III   (born October 17, 1972, St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.), American rapper, record producer, and actor who was known as one of the most-controversial and best-selling artists of the early 21st century.

Mathers had a turbulent childhood, marked by poverty and allegations of abuse. At age 14 he began rapping in clubs in Detroit, Michigan, and, when unexcused absences kept him in the ninth grade for the third year, he quit school, determined to make it in hip-hop music. As Eminem, he made a name for himself in the hip-hop underground, both as a solo artist and as a member of the Detroit-based rap sextet D12 (also known as the Dirty Dozen). His first album, Infinite (1996), sold poorly, however, and he continued to work menial jobs.

When Eminem placed second in the freestyle category at the 1997 Rap Olympics in Los Angeles, he came to the attention of Dr. Dre, founding member of pioneering rappers N.W.A. and the head of Aftermath Entertainment. By that time Eminem had developed the persona of the inhibitionless Slim Shady, who gave voice to Eminem’s id in often vulgar and violent lyrics. With Dr. Dre as his producer and mentor, Eminem released The Slim Shady LP early in 1999. Benefiting from the inventive channel-surfing music video for the hit song “My Name Is” and the instant credibility of Dr. Dre’s involvement, the album sold several million copies, and Eminem won two Grammy Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards.

Grounded in his life experience but seemingly reflecting a troubled psyche, Eminem’s songs outraged many, including the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, which denounced him as a homophobic misogynist. His tumultuous relationship with his wife, Kim, was chronicled in songs in which he rapped about killing her. In 2000 Eminem was charged with assault when he allegedly pistol-whipped a man he saw kissing her; the couple divorced in 2001, and their relationship remained rocky (in 2006 the couple remarried and divorced again). His mother also sued him for defaming her in song and in interviews.

In 2000 Eminem released The Marshall Mathers LP, which set a record in the United States for the fastest-selling rap album. The incredible success of the album, which included the provocative hit singles “The Real Slim Shady” and “Stan,” brought more controversy. To silence critics, in 2001 Eminem performed a duet with openly gay musician Elton John at the Grammy Awards, where The Marshall Mathers LP was nominated for best album of the year. Later that year he recorded the album Devil’s Night with D12 and toured with the group. He also created his own record label, Shady Records. The D12 collective, 50 Cent, and other rappers signed to and released albums with the label.

Eminem returned in 2002 with The Eminem Show, which proved to be nearly as popular as The Marshall Mathers LP. Also that year he made his acting debut in the semiautobiographical 8 Mile. The gritty film was a critical and commercial success. The following year he won an Academy Award for “Lose Yourself,” a song featured in the movie. After reteaming with D12 for D12 World (2004), Eminem released Encore (2004) and a greatest-hits set, Curtain Call: The Hits (2005), both of which sold well but failed to garner as much attention as his previous albums had. He then stepped out of the public eye, resurfacing briefly in 2006 to eulogize friend and D12 member Proof, who was killed outside a Detroit nightclub. Two years later Eminem published the memoir The Way I Am, which included photos, drawings, and lyrics.

Relapse (2009) marked Eminem’s first collection of new material in five years. Although it featured solid production from Dr. Dre, the album met with middling reviews because of its over-the-top attempts to shock and its somewhat dated catalog of pop culture references. Nevertheless, the single “Crack a Bottle” became Eminem’s second song to top the Billboard singles chart (after “Lose Yourself”), and Eminem won Grammy Awards for both the song and the album. His next album, Recovery (2010), was a response to the criticisms leveled at Relapse. Although Eminem was no longer at the vanguard of hip-hop, Recovery demonstrated that he remained a potent commercial force, as the soul-baring singles “Not Afraid” and “Love the Way You Lie” (featuring the singer Rihanna) both became major hits. Eminem reteamed with Rihanna on “The Monster,” from The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013), and the album became his sixth to win the Grammy Award for best rap album. In addition, Eminem occasionally collaborated with rapper Royce da 5’9” under the name Bad Meets Evil; among their releases was the EP Hell: The Sequel (2011).

As a cocksure soothsaying statement, “It feels so empty without me” has sure rung true during the past couple of years in hip-hop. No fear, Marshall Mathers III is about to re-up.

As he returns to the public arena, Clash turns stalker to unearth twelve little known facts about the rapper.

As a nine-year-old, Eminem was beaten so badly by a school bully that he spent over a week in a coma. His music has since been credited with helping to bring more than one fan out of similar states, including a twelve-year-old girl who was hit by a car in Northumberland.

As a nine-year-old, Eminem was beaten so badly by a school bully that he spent over a week in a coma. His music has since been credited with helping to bring more than one fan out of similar states, including a twelve-year-old girl who was hit by a car in Northumberland.

As a youngster, Marshall harboured ambitions to become a comic book artist rather than a rapper, which explains various animated threads through-out his career, including the Dubya-baiting ‘Mosh’ video and The Slim Shady Show series.

The Slim Shady moniker may never have materialised if he’d pursued one of his pre-fame jobs as a cook at a family restaurant in Michigan. Still, you can take the white trash outta the trailer park, but old habits die hard: Em’s a Taco bell man nowadays.

Reckon Marshall’s turbulent marriage/divorce seesaw with on/off wife Kim mirrors the family unit’s decline? That’s nothing: his grandmother Betty Hixson comfortably eclipses those antics with five walks up the aisle. Nearly halfway there, Em’…

Despite a tearaway image and numerous brushes with the law, Mathers’ didn’t clock his first arrest until aged twenty, appre-hended for shooting at a cop car with a paintball gun. No word on whether the aftermath resembled a scene from Shady’s all-time favourite movie, classic gangster flick 'Scarface', but we’ll take a punt on no…

Another blond-bonced establishment upsetter, strip club magnate Peter Stringfellow, shares Eminem’s birthday. Also born on october 17th are Fugees rapper Wyclef Jean, Ziggy Marley and the late motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel.


Recently re-crowned King of Pop himself Michael Jackson co-owns rights in Em’s back catalogue, despite publicly pillaring Mr. Mathers for depicting him as a flammable plastic surgery-riddled sex offender in the ‘Just Lose It’ video. When ol’ Wacko and Sony/ATV Music Publishing acquired Famous Music LLC in 2007, the purchase included hits like ‘Without Me’ and ‘The Real Slim Shady’.


bears no grudge despite also being on the receiving end of Eminem’s video nasties. “He is, I think, a really remarkably talented MC,” the bald-headed producer admitted last year. “If I was to meet him I would probably compliment him for being so talented. Some of his rhymes are really pretty impressive.”


At the risk of branding Eminem a hypocrite, however, he wasn’t so keen on parodies when poodle-haired musical piss-taker ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic came a-calling. Yankovic had permission refused to film a video for ‘Lose yourself’ take-off ‘Couch Potato’. Apparently, Mathers didn’t want to “detract from his image as a serious hip-hop artist”.


Adding to the list of musicians rumoured to have attracted attention from the US administration, unreleased Eminem song ‘We As Americans’ purportedly nudged the American secret service awake thanks to lyrics including “Fuck money / I don’t rap for dead presidents / I’d rather see the president dead”. Bush, not Obama, was the target of his ire.


Like many artistic types, Eminem is left-handed. If you look hard enough, various writing dexterity clues are buried within his music videos, as well as movie '8 Mile'.


Although Marshall Mathers’ iconic stage name is taken from his initials and not, sadly, moreish sugar-covered chocolate treats, one of the best Eminem-inspired works is an M&Ms portrait of the star by Florida artist Enrique Ramos. Assembled from more than eight pounds of sweets, over one thousand M&Ms were used.