Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known as Eminem, is a Grammy and Academy Award-winning American rapper, record producer, and actor from the Detroit, Michigan area.

Eminem has sold over 70 million albums worldwide.^[1]. Eminem was discovered by pioneer gangsta rapper and producer Dr. Dre, who signed him to his Aftermath Entertainment label.

Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney has praised Mathers for his "verbal energy" and for arousing popular interest in poetry and lyrics.^[2] Eminem is infamous for the controversy surrounding many of his lyrics. With the enormous success of his highly acclaimed album The Marshall Mathers LP and its subsequent nomination for four Grammy awards including Album of the Year,

critics such as GLAAD denounced his lyrics as homophobic and misogynist, while others protested that it promoted violence.^[3] In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Eminem ^[4#82 on their list of The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.^[5] Eminem was ranked the 19th greatest rapper by About.com.^[6]