Los Angels

972–91: Early life and beginnings
Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972, in Saint Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Deborah R. ( Nelson) Mathers-Briggs (born 1957) and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr (born 1947).[8] He is of Scottish,[9] English,German, Swiss, Polish, and Luxembourgian ancestry.[10] His father abandoned the family when he was 18 months old, and he wasraised solely by his mother. By the age of 12, Mathers and his mother had moved between various cities and towns in Missouri (including Saint Joseph, Savannah, and Kansas City)[11] before they settled in Warren, Michigan, and in Mathers' teenage years, Detroit.[12]
As a child, Mathers developed an interest in storytelling and aspired to become a comic book artist before discovering hip hop.[13] WhenMathers was around 11 years old, his maternal uncle Ronald "Ronnie" Polkinghorn (1971-1991) introduced him to the genre after giving him a copy of Ice-T's single "Reckless".[13] After obtaining a copy of the Beastie Boys album Licensed to Ill as a teenager, Mathers became interested in music, performing amateur raps at age 14 under the pseudonym "M&M" and joining the group called "BassmintProductions" and released their second EP, Steppin' onto the Scene. They later changed their name to "Soul Intent" and around 1995 they released their first single called "Fuckin' Backstabber" under the record label Mashin' Duck Records.[1] Although he was enrolled at Lincoln High School in Warren, he frequently participated in freestyle battles at the now-defunct Osborn High School on Detroit'seast side.[14] Despite a well-documented struggle succeeding in a predominantly black industry, he gained the approval of underground hip hop audiences.[1][8][15] After repeating the ninth grade twice due to truancy and near-failing grades,[16] he dropped out of high school at age 17.
In 1991, Mathers was devastated by the suicide of his uncle. He has a tattoo reading "Ronnie R.I.P." on his upperleft arm.[17] Ronnie was mentioned in the songs "Stan," "Cleanin' Out My Closet," and "My Dad's Gone Crazy".
1992–99: Early career, Infinite, and The Slim Shady LP

Eminem performing in Munich, Germany, in October 1999.
One of Mathers' early mentors as a rapper was local rapper Champtown, who got Mathers his first studio time; Mathers made his first music video appearance in Champtown's 1992video "Do-Da-Dipity".[18] Mathers and Champtown later had a falling out.[18] Mathers was initially signed to FBT Productions in 1992, run by brothers Jeff and Mark Bass. Mathers also held a minimum-wage job of cooking and dishwashing at the restaurant Gilbert's Lodge at St. Clair Shores for some time.[19] In 1996, his debut album Infinite, which was recorded at the Bassmint, a recording studioowned by the Bass Brothers, was released under their independent label Web Entertainment.[20] Eminem recalled, "Obviously, I was young and influenced by other artists, and I got a lot of feedback saying that I sounded 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. It was a growing stage. I felt like'Infinite' was like a demo that just got pressed up."[21] Subjects covered in Infinite included his struggles with raising his newborn daughter Hailie Jade Mathers while on limited funds and his strong desire to get rich.[22] Early in his career, Eminem collaborated with fellow Detroit MC Royce da 5'9" under the stage name Bad Meets Evil.[23] After the release of Infinite, Eminem's personal strugglesand abuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in an unsuccessful suicide attempt.[1]
Jimmy Iovine, CEO of Interscope Records, requested a demo tape of Eminem's after he placed second at the 1997 Rap Olympics. Eminem had also won Wake Up Show's "Freestyle Performer of the Year" award, helping him acquire a record deal.[24] Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, founder of Aftermath...