Parent	Universal Music Group
Founded	1990
Founder	Jimmy IovineTed Field
Status
Distributor	Interscope-Geffen-A&M;(In the US)Polydor Records(Outside of the US)
Genre	Various
Location	Santa Monica, California
Country	United States
Url

Interscope Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M; label group.

History

Beginnings

Interscope was formed in 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field with financial support from Atlantic Records (which owned a 53% stock in the label). Upon its launch, it was initially distributed by Atlantic Records' subsidiary East West Records America. A&R; Executive John McClain and producer Beau Hill were also part of the original founding team.

The label's first release was Latin-rapper Gerardo, who scored a top 5, gold hit with "Rico Suave" in the spring of 1991. More early success came later in the year when the label released the debut album from Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, which went platinum in early 1992. During this time, Interscope also signed rapper Tupac Shakur, Primus, No Doubt and Nine Inch Nails.

Death Row Records

Though Interscope seemed to be on a roll with its first few releases, the label was faced with criticism for manufacturing what was considered cookie-cutter hip-hop. That changed when, in 1992, Iovine financially assisted Suge Knight and Dr. Dre in the formation of Death Row Records, and arranged for Interscope to distribute its records. The joint venture hit pay-dirt when Death Row and Interscope released The Chronic, the solo debut album from Dr. Dre. Released in December, the album became a seminal hit into the new year; eventually going triple platinum, and furthermore introduced the then up-and-coming Snoop Dogg—whose own debut album Doggystyle was released in late 1993 and became a monstrous success as well, selling over 800,000 in its first week of release.

Following the success of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, Death Row and Interscope became powerful labels in the industry, both collectively and respectively. With this acclaim, however, came criticism from various sources over the gangsta rap image that was being perpetuated. Feeling the heat from activist groups, Time Warner (Interscope's parent company) refused to distribute Death Row's next slated release, Dogg Food by Tha Dogg Pound, which had been originally scheduled for release in June 1995. The album was subsequently pushed back, while Death Row and Interscope made an outside deal with Priority Records to distribute that album upon its release.

The controversy swirling around Death Row and Interscope made Time Warner's shareholders nervous, so much so that in late 1995, the company sold all of its stake in Interscope Records to MCA Music Entertainment (later renamed Universal Music Group). Not wanting to take on the scrutiny that plagued Time Warner, MCA too initially refused to distribute many of Interscope's Death Row releases; most notably All Eyez on Me, the much anticipated forthcoming Death Row debut album by Tupac Shakur, which was later certified Diamond in the U.S. This forced Death Row and Interscope to strike a deal with Island Records to distribute that particular album outside of its home base.

Death Row began to collapse in 1996 following the death of Shakur, the incarceration of Knight and departure of Dr. Dre, who had left a year earlier. In August 1997, Interscope (under pressure from Universal Music Group) made the decision to sell off all of its share in the label. Interscope, however, has continued to release posthumous albums by Shakur in conjunction with Amaru Entertainment.

Today

Though Interscope initially made a name for itself as a label dealing heavily in hip-hop and urban music, by the mid 2000s, its range began to expand and, subsequently, the company would eventually experience success with artists in all genres, for example, the industrial rock artist Nine Inch Nails (Nothing Records), shock rocker Marilyn Manson, Limp Bizkit, Helmet, No Doubt and most recently, the Latin artist Kings Of Flow in a unique partnership with Los Angeles based indie Latin label.

Following UMG's acquisition of PolyGram in 1998, Geffen Records and A&M; Records were merged into Interscope—making it the extremely powerful and leading unit at UMG that it is today. In 2004, Dreamworks Records was merged into the Interscope-Geffen-A&M; group bringing over such artists as Blink-182, Papa Roach, Rise Against, Nelly Furtado, Lifehouse, AFI, The All-American Rejects, Jimmy Eat World and Rufus Wainwright among others (the artists were divided between Interscope and Geffen, with most going to the latter). In 2005, Interscope launched a new imprint called Cherrytree Records, for emerging artists; beginning with group The Lovemakers and now includes Far East Movement, Feist, Flipsyde, Tokio Hotel, Mindless Behavior, JoJo, Roscoe Dash, Culice Damani, and[Robyn]], but although Lady Gaga is still with Interscope, she's no longer with Cherrytree.Vic Monroe is a American recording artist who lives in Everett Washington. He has open for Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Cody Simpson, Mindless Behavior(shares songs with the boy band), and Usher. In the summer of 2007 he payed an estimate of 2.2 million dollars for his house. Vic Monroe also attends the school of Evergreen Middle School in Everett Washington.Has a upcoming album realease in December named Forever. In May 2007, Interscope announced a joint-venture partnership with Justin Timberlake to create a new recording label called Tennman Records, with the first artist being Esmee Denters. Early 2010 saw Interscope signing South African hip-hop group Die Antwoord, marking the first time a South African act has caught their attention, through an effective viral marketing campaign and a Facebook following of close to 50,000 fans and millions of hits on YouTube.

Criticism

Rapper Ice Cube has criticized Interscope for its use of Tupac Shakur's music in his song "Child Support". Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor has also criticized Universal Music Group for overcharging his album Year Zero in Australia. When he asked why it was so much, they replied "you've got a core audience that's gonna buy whatever we put out, so we can charge more for that [...] True fans will pay whatever". Nine Inch Nails is now a part of their own record label The Null Corporation and no longer associates with Interscope.

Salaried artists

At the SXSW conference in 2006, Interscope lawyer Darryl Franklin said during a panel discussion, that the contract with the group The Pussycat Dolls is unique in that its members are actually salaried employees of the record label and, by design, completely interchangeable. This means that in addition to CD sales, the label also controls merchandise, web sites and all other commercial aspects of the group and their income, excluding songwriting.

Artists

Current Interscope Records artists

Former Interscope Records artists

See also

List of record labels

Interscope Records discography

References

External links

Interscope.com

Video Interview with Jimmy Iovine, Chairman of Interscope

Interview with Interscope A&R; Mark Williams, HitQuarters Apr 2006

Category:Record labels established in 1990 Category:American record labels Category:Vivendi subsidiaries Category:Rock record labels Category:Heavy metal record labels Category:Pop record labels Category:Hip hop record labels Category:Labels distributed by Universal Music Group Category:Film soundtrack record labels

Name	Skylar Grey
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Holly Brook Hafermann
Alias	Holly Brook
Born	February 23, 1986
Origin	Mazomanie, Wisconsin,
Instrument	Vocals, piano, guitar
Genre	Pop, soul, folk rock, rock, hip hop
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, record producer
Years active	2004–present
Label	Present: KIDinaKORNER,InterscopePrevious: Machine Shop
Associated acts	Alex da Kid, Eminem, Rihanna, Dr Dre, Fort Minor, Lupe Fiasco, Diddy
Url

Holly Brook Hafermann (born February 23, 1986), better known by her stage name Skylar Grey (formerly Holly Brook), is a Grammy-nominated American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Grey was signed to Machine Shop Recordings under the name Holly Brook. She released her debut album Like Blood Like Honey in 2006. She co-wrote the three versions of "Love the Way You Lie" with Alex da Kid, who signed her to his Wonderland Music label. She was featured as a guest vocalist on Fort Minor's "Where'd You Go" and "Be Somebody", Diddy-Dirty Money's "Coming Home", Dr. Dre's "I Need a Doctor" and Lupe Fiasco's "Words I Never Said".

Holly Brook changed her name to Skylar Grey. When asked why her name was changed to Skylar Grey, she said “Spiritually, it represents the unknowns in life. People seem to be afraid of the unknowns, but I’m the complete opposite. I dive into the unknown because I feel like that’s where all your possibilities come from.”

Life and career

2001–2010: Early life and career beginnings

Grey performed professionally as a child in a folk duo with her mother called Generations. Together, (with producer/engineer Randy Green) they independently produced three albums, "Dream Maker", "Lift Me", and "Millennial Child/Waiting For You". Grey started her first band at the age of fifteen after 'sneaking' into bars, working with jazz musicians including Jeff Eckles, Tim Whalen and Leo Sidran in Madison, Wisconsin.

In 2003, Brook moved to Los Angeles and recorded a demo, which led to her being signed by Linkin Park guitarist Brad Delson to the band's vanity label, Machine Shop Recordings, at age 18 in the fall of 2004. Her voice is featured on the Fort Minor songs "Where'd You Go" and "Be Somebody". Working with producer Jonathan Ingoldsby, Brook released her debut album, Like Blood Like Honey, on June 6, 2006. She landed opening spots for tours with Jamie Cullum, KD Lang, Daniel Powter, Teddy Geiger and Duncan Sheik.

In 2010, Brook lent both her song "It's Raining Again" and her image to a promotional campaign for Ciao Water. Prior to this, she has appeared on albums by other artists, including Brie Larson's Finally Out of P.E., and Fort Minor's The Rising Tied. Brook has toured with as part of Duncan Sheik's band, and appears heavily on his 2009 album Whisper House. At the beginning in 2010 she also performed in the theatrical version of "Whisper House," playing one of the two lead ghost vocalists along with David Poe. Also in 2010, she self-released the seven-song O’Dark:Thirty EP, produced by Duncan Sheik and Jon Ingoldsby. In 2009, Brook appeared as a backing vocalist on Eurovision contestant, Yohanna's debut album, "Butterflies and Elvis".

2011–present: Invisible

Producer Alex da Kid signed her (as Skylar Grey) to a production deal on his Wonderland Music imprint. She helped write sections of all three versions of "Love the Way You Lie" by rapper Eminem and Rihanna as well as performing the demo for the song. Grey earned a Grammy nomination for Song of the Year for her writing contributions to "Love the Way You Lie". She also co-wrote Diddy-Dirty Money's "Coming Home", along with "Castle Walls" by T.I. and Christina Aguilera. She is also a featured guest on "I Need a Doctor". Grey is also featured on Lupe Fiasco's third studio album Lasers, on the second single, "Words I Never Said" and was also featured in the live performance of the song, with Lupe, on The Colbert Report on May 9, 2011. Grey made her live performance debut under her new alias during the 53rd Grammy Awards, performing "I Need a Doctor" alongside Eminem and Dr. Dre.

On March 10, 2011, Diddy-Dirty Money (Sean Comb's band) performed the single "Coming Home" with Grey and two female background vocalists Dawn Richard and Kalenna Harper, live on American Idol. Forty six minutes into the show, Ryan Seacrest introduced Diddy-Dirty Money featuring Grey. Grey started the performance seated at a piano singing the song's opening refrain. Grey and Diddy-Dirty Money's performance lasted four minutes.

She is currently working on her solo studio album Invinsible with Alex Da Kid. She has signed to Interscope Records through Da Kid's KIDinaKORNER, and her first promotional buzz single "Dance Without You" was released on June 6, 2011, with the first official single "Invisible" set for release later in June.

Influences

Grey has listed Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Sarah McLachlan and Death Cab for Cutie as her influences.

Discography

Albums

Invinsible (2011)

As Holly Brook

Like Blood Like Honey (2006)

(2010)

References

External links

Category:1986 births Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American female singers Category:American pop pianists Category:American female guitarists Category:Living people Category:People from Dane County, Wisconsin Category:Songwriters from Wisconsin

Name	Marilyn Manson
Landscape	Yes
Background	solo_singer
Genre	Rock
Birth name	Brian Hugh Warner
Born	January 05, 1969Canton, Ohio, U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, pan flute, percussion
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, artist, poet, film director, actor
Years active	1989–present
Label	Cooking Vinyl, Nothing, Interscope
Associated acts	Marilyn Manson, Satan on Fire, Nine Inch Nails, Mrs. Scabtree, Jack Off Jill
Signature	Signature of Marilyn Manson.png
Signature alt	Cursive signature in ink

Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), better known by his stage name Marilyn Manson, is an American musician and artist known for his controversial stage persona and image as the lead singer of the eponymous band, Marilyn Manson. His stage name was formed from juxtaposing the names of two 1960's American cultural icons, namely, actress Marilyn Monroe and convicted multiple murder mastermind Charles Manson as a critical and, simultaneously, laudatory appraisal of America and its peculiar culture. He has a long legacy of being depicted in the media as a detrimental influence on children. The seemingly outrageous styles for which he models and the controversy surrounding his lyrics have led to his very pronounced public appeal.

Early life

Marilyn Manson was born as Brian Hugh Warner in Canton, Ohio, the only child of Barb (née Wyer) and Hugh Warner. As a child, he attended his mother's Episcopalian church, though his father was Catholic. Warner attended Heritage Christian School from first grade to tenth grade. He later transferred to Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Manson graduated from high school in 1987, and became a student at Broward Community College in 1990. He was working towards a degree in journalism, and was gaining experience in the field by writing music articles for a South Florida lifestyle magazine, 25th Parallel. He would soon meet several of the musicians to whom his own band would later be compared, including My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.

Career

Music

Manson formed Marilyn Manson & the Spooky Kids in Florida in 1989 (the name was shortened to Marilyn Manson in 1992). While with The Spooky Kids, he was involved with Jeordie White (also known as Twiggy Ramirez) and Stephen Gregory Bier Jr. (also known as Madonna Wayne Gacy) in two side-projects: Satan on Fire, a faux-Christian metal ensemble where he played bass guitar, and drums in Mrs. Scabtree, a collaborative band formed with White and then girlfriend Jessicka (vocalist with the band Jack Off Jill) as a way to combat contractual agreements that prohibited Marilyn Manson from playing in certain clubs. In the summer of 1993, the band drew the attention of Trent Reznor. Reznor produced their 1994 debut album, Portrait of an American Family and released it on his Nothing Records label. The band began to develop a cult following, which grew larger with the release of Smells Like Children in 1995. That EP yielded the band's first big MTV hit with "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)", a cover of the 1983 Eurythmics hit. Antichrist Superstar (co-produced by Trent Reznor) was an even greater success.

In the US alone, three of the band's albums have been awarded platinum certification, three more gold, and the band has had three releases debut in the top ten, including two number-one albums. Manson first worked as a producer with the band Jack Off Jill. He helped name the band and produce most of the band's early recordings, and also played guitar on the song "My Cat" and had the band open most of his South Florida shows. Manson later wrote the liner notes to the band's album Humid Teenage Mediocrity 1992-1995, a collection of early Jack Off Jill recordings. Manson has appeared as a guest performer on DMX's album Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood and on Godhead's 2000 Years of Human Error album — the only album released on his vanity label Posthuman.

In 2010 Manson was featured in the Motionless in White song, "London in Terror".

Film and television

.]] Manson made his film debut in 1997, as an actor in David Lynch's Lost Highway. Since then he has appeared in a variety of minor roles and cameos, including Party Monster; then-girlfriend Rose McGowan's 1998 film Jawbreaker; Asia Argento's 2004 film The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things; ; and , the sixth installment in the BMW Films series. He was interviewed in Michael Moore's political documentary Bowling for Columbine discussing possible motivations for the Columbine massacre and allegations that his music was somehow a factor. He has appeared in animated form in Clone High and participated in several episodes of the MTV series Celebrity Deathmatch, becoming the show's unofficial champion and mascot; he often performed the voice for his claymated puppet, and contributed the song "Astonishing Panorama of the Endtimes" to the soundtrack album. In July 2005, Manson told Rolling Stone that he was shifting his focus from music to filmmaking - "I just don't think the world is worth putting music into right now. I no longer want to make art that other people — particularly record companies — are turning into a product. I just want to make art."

Johnny Depp reportedly used Manson as his inspiration for his performance as Willy Wonka in the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Manson himself expressed interest in playing the role of Willy Wonka in the film.

He has been working on his directorial debut, , In the film, he plays Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Rather than a web-only release, he decided to give the estimated $4.2 million budget film a conventional cinema release, originally slated for mid-2007. The film was to have an original music soundtrack with previously unreleased songs. Production of the film had been postponed until an undefined period following the Eat Me, Drink Me tour, and were consqeuently cancelled due to its violent contents. Manson will portray metalband frontman Lars in the upcoming Slasher Splatter Sisters.

Art

Manson claimed in a 2004 interview with i-D magazine to have begun his career as a watercolor painter in 1999 when he made five-minute concept pieces and sold them to drug dealers. On September 13–14, 2002, his first show, The Golden Age of Grotesque, was held at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions Centre. Art in America's Max Henry likened them to the works of a "psychiatric patient given materials to use as therapy" and said his work would never be taken seriously in a fine-art context, writing that the value was "in their celebrity, not the work". On September 14–15, 2004, Manson held a second exhibition on the first night in Paris and the second in Berlin. The show was named ‘Trismegistus’ which was also the title of the center piece of the exhibit – a large, three-headed Christ painted onto an antique wood panel from a portable embalmers table.

Manson named his self-proclaimed art movement Celebritarian Corporation. He has coined a slogan for the movement: “We will sell our shadow to those who stand within it.” In 2005 he said that the Celebritarian Corporation has been "incubating for seven years" which if correct would indicate that Celebritarian Corporation, in some form, started in 1998.

Celebritarian Corporation is also the namesake of an art gallery owned by Manson, called the Celebritarian Corporation Gallery of Fine Art in Los Angeles for which his third exhibition was the inaugural show. From April 2–17, 2007, his recent works were on show at the Space 39 Modern & Contemporary in Florida. 40 pieces from this show traveled to Germany's Gallery Brigitte Schenk in Cologne to be publicly exhibited from June 28 - July 28, 2007. Manson was refused admittance to Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral), when he was in the city to attend the opening night. This was, according to Manson, due to his makeup.

Manson revealed a series of twenty paintings in 2010 entitled Genealogies of Pain, an exhibition the artist collaborated on with David Lynch. The series is being showcased in Vienna's Kunsthalle gallery.

Personal life

Manson made an appearance in the video game Area 51 as Edgar, a Grey Alien. His song "Cruci-Fiction In Space" is featured in a commercial for a video game, The Darkness. His likeness is also featured on the Celebrity Deathmatch video game for which he recorded a song for the soundtrack (2003). The song "Use your fist and not your mouth" was the credits score of the game Cold Fear as well as . Manson launched "Mansinthe," his own brand of Swiss made absinthe, which has received mixed reviews ranging from critics who compared the drink's odor to sewage water and described the taste as being "as bad as piss" to coming second to Versinthe in an Absinthe top 5 and winning a Gold medal at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Prior to his relationship with Dita Von Teese, he was in a relationship with Michele Greenberg. He then was engaged to actress Rose McGowan. In 2007, attention was brought to Manson's love life again when a relationship with True Blood actress Evan Rachel Wood was made public. Manson and Wood reportedly maintained an on-again off-again relationship for several years. Manson proposed to Wood during a Paris stage performance in January 2010, but the couple broke off the engagement later that year. After media comments from Manson that he wears his signature black leather pants 24/7, animal rights group PETA added Manson to PETA’s ‘Worst-Dressed Celebrities of 2008’.

Marriage to Dita Von Teese

Manson and Dita Von Teese first met when he asked her to dance in one of his music videos. Though she was unable to, the two kept in contact. On his 32nd birthday they became a couple. He proposed on March 22, 2004 and gave her a 1930s-era, , European round-cut diamond engagement ring. On November 28, 2005, Manson and von Teese were married in a private, non-denominational ceremony in their home. A larger ceremony was held on December 3, at Gurteen Castle, in Kilsheelan, County Tipperary, Ireland, the home of their friend, Gottfried Helnwein. The wedding was officiated by surrealist film director and comic book writer Alejandro Jodorowsky.

On December 30, 2006 Von Teese filed for divorce due to "irreconcilable differences." ET.com and People claimed that Manson was having an extramarital affair with then 19-year-old actress Evan Rachel Wood, who is to co-star in his horror film , and features in the video for his 2007 single, "Heart-Shaped Glasses." The relationship was confirmed by Von Teese in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, "I get the impression he thinks I was unsupportive, but the truth is I wasn't supportive of his lifestyle, and someone else came along who was." Manson's alcohol abuse and distant behavior were also cited as cause for the split. A judgement of divorce was entered in Los Angeles Superior Court on December 27, 2007.

Lawsuits

In a civil battery suit, David Diaz, a security officer from a concert in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on October 27, 2000, sued for $75,000 in a Minneapolis federal court. The federal court jury found in Manson's favor.

In a civil suit presented by Oakland County, Michigan, Manson was charged with sexual misconduct against another security officer, Joshua Keasler, during a concert in Clarkston, Michigan, on July 30, 2001. Oakland County originally filed assault and battery and criminal sexual misconduct charges, but the judge reduced the latter charge to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. Manson pleaded no contest to the reduced charges, paid a $4,000 fine, and later settled the lawsuit under undisclosed terms.

On April 3, 2002, Maria St. John filed in Los Angeles Superior Court accusing Manson of providing her adult daughter, Jennifer Syme, with cocaine and instructing her to drive while under the influence. After attending a party at Manson's house, Syme was given a lift home; Manson claims she was taken home by a designated driver.

On August 2, 2007, former band member Stephen "Pogo/Madonna Wayne Gacy" Bier filed a lawsuit against Manson for unpaid "partnership proceeds," seeking $20 million in back pay. Several details from the lawsuit leaked to the press. In November 2007, additional papers were filed saying that Manson purchased a child's skeleton and masks made of human skin. He also allegedly bought stuffed animals, such as a grizzly bear and two baboons and a collection of Nazi memorabilia. In December 2007, Manson countersued, claiming that Bier failed to fulfill his duties as a bandmember to play for recordings and to promote the band.

Discography

Portrait of an American Family (1994)

Antichrist Superstar (1996)

Mechanical Animals (1998)

Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death) (2000)

The Golden Age of Grotesque (2003)

Eat Me, Drink Me (2007)

The High End of Low (2009)

Filmography

S.F.W. ("Get Your Gunn" featured on soundtrack)

Lost Highway (as Porno Star #1, "Apple of Sodom" & "I Put a Spell on You" included on soundtrack) (1997)

Spawn ("Long Hard Road out of Hell" included on soundtrack) (1997)

Private Parts ("Suck for Your Solution" included on soundtrack) (1997)

Nowhere ("Kiddie Grinder (Remix)" included on soundtrack) (1997)

Dead Man on Campus ("Golden Years" included on soundtrack) (1998)

The Matrix ("Rock is Dead" included on soundtrack) (1999)

Jawbreaker (as The Stranger) (1999)

Detroit Rock City ("Highway to Hell" included on soundtrack) (1999)

("Suicide is Painless" included on soundtrack) (2000)

Valentine ("Valentine's Day" included on soundtrack) (2001)

From Hell ("The Nobodies (Wormwood Remix)" included on soundtrack) (2001)

Not Another Teen Movie ("Tainted Love" included on soundtrack) (2001)

Resident Evil (Composer, 2002)

Bowling for Columbine (interview, 2002)

Queen of the Damned (Vocals on "Redeemer" included on soundtrack) (2002)

(as Himself) (2003)

Party Monster (as Christina) (2003)

Doppelherz (Director, Composer) 2003)

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (as Jackson) (2004)

Area 51 (as voice of Edgar) (2005)

Saw II ("Irresponsible Hate Anthem (Venus Head Trap Mix)" included on soundtrack) (2005)

House of Wax ("Dried Up, Tied and Dead to the World" included on soundtrack) (2005)

Living Neon Dreams (2006)

Rise: Blood Hunter (as Bartender) (2006)

King Shot (2009)

Gamer ("Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" included on soundtrack) (2009)

(as Lewis Carroll, Director, Writer, Composer) (2010)

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (as The Dark Man) (2010)

Splatter Sisters (Actor, Composer) (2011)

Vampires Suck ("If I Was Your Vampire" included on soundtrack) (2010)

Books

The Long Hard Road Out of Hell (1998)

Holy Wood Unreleased

Appearances in other media

In an episode of Metalocalypse called Regionklok, Manson was featured as the priest of a Satanist church, telling the fellow satanists not to forget to pick their trash up and to not park by the neighbors house, due to towing.

Season 2, Episode 18 of South Park features Trey Parker doing a parody of Marilyn Manson singing "Stinky Britches"

Episode 2 of Clone High portrays Marilyn Manson singing a song about the Food Pyramid

Season 5, Episode 4 of Family Guy portrays Marilyn Manson informing Chris Griffin of nutrition

In the final episode of the fourth season of Mr. Show David Cross portrays the character "Marilyn Monster" in a sketch.

In The X-Files Season 8, Episode 17 the characters Detective Potter and Agent Reyes discuss Marilyn Manson after finding his cd at the desk of a suspect.

Andy Dick created the character "Marilyn Poppins" for The Andy Dick Show as a satirical homage to Marilyn Manson

Manson was characterized in the British TV Series Bo' Selecta! during Series 4, Bo! in the USA.

During Season 4 of Madtv Pat Kilbane portrayed Marilyn Manson in episodes 406 & 407 for a Kenny Rogers sketch and Lowered Expectations sketch respectively.

MTV's Cartoon Sushi featured a clip of Marilyn Manson and Charles Manson in a celebrity fight to the death. This later spawned the series Celebrity Deathmatch in which Marilyn Manson continued his appearances crashing the fight between Hanson vs. The Spice Girls in the "Deathbowl '98", as well as his deathmatch with Garth Brooks in Season 1, Episode 6. His final match against Ricky Martin occurred when Martin interrupted a performance by Manson's band. Celebrity Deathmatch was made into a video game in 2003 featuring Marilyn Manson as a playable character.

Marilyn Manson is mentioned in Method Man's song "Well All Rite Cha", Outkast's song "Y'all Scared", Shop Boyz' song "Party Like a Rockstar", Dead Celebrity Status' song "In My Backyard", Wyclef Jean's song "Where Fugees At?", D12's songs "These Drugs" & "Blow My Buzz", Xzibit's song "3 Card Molly", Bizzy Bone's song "Social Studios", Slaughterhouse's song "The One", Nicki Minaj's song "Higher Than a Kite", Big & Rich's song "Comin' to Your City", Lonestar's song "Don't Let's Talk About Lisa", Princess Superstar's song "I Love You (Or at Least I Like You)", The Ataris' song "The Radio Still Sucks", Bowling for Soup's song "Luckiest Loser", Thousand Foot Krutch's song "Unbelievable", Relient K's song "My Girlfriend", Eminem's songs "When the Music Stops," "Still Don't Give a Fuck" & "The Way I Am" as well as New Radicals' song "You Get What You Give". Both latter songs generated interest from Manson.

References

External links

Official website

NACHTKABARETT

Category:1969 births Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Marilyn Manson (band) members Category:Musical groups from Fort Lauderdale, Florida Category:Musical groups established in 1989 Category:American actors of German descent Category:American film actors Category:American male singers Category:American painters Category:American rock singers Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American musicians of German descent Category:American musicians of Polish descent Category:American autobiographers Category:Broward College alumni Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Florida Category:Musicians from Ohio Category:People from Canton, Ohio Category:Resident Evil composers

Name	Eminem
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Marshall Bruce Mathers III
Alias	Slim Shady
Birth date	October 17, 1972
Birth place	Saint Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
Origin	Warren, Michigan, U.S.
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, record producer, actor, songwriter
Years active	1992–present
Label	Interscope, Aftermath, Shady, Web
Associated acts	D12, Bad Meets Evil, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Obie Trice, Royce da 5'9"
Url

Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), better known by his stage name Eminem or his alter ego Slim Shady, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Eminem quickly gained popularity in 1999 with his major-label debut album, The Slim Shady LP, which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. The following album, The Marshall Mathers LP, became the fastest-selling solo album in United States history. It brought Eminem increased popularity, including his own record label, Shady Records, and brought his group project, D12, to mainstream recognition. As well as being a member of D12, Eminem is also one half of the hip-hop duo Bad Meets Evil (the other member being Royce da 5'9").

The Marshall Mathers LP and his third major album, The Eminem Show, also won Grammy Awards, making Eminem the first artist to win Best Rap Album for three consecutive LPs. He then won the award again in 2010 for his album Relapse and in 2011 for his album Recovery, giving him a total of 13 Grammys in his career. In 2003, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself" from the film, 8 Mile, in which he also played the lead. "Lose Yourself" would go on to become the longest running No. 1 hip hop single. Eminem then went on hiatus after touring in 2005. He released his first album since 2004's Encore, titled Relapse, on May 15, 2009. Eminem is the best-selling artist of the decade on the US Nielsen SoundScan, and has sold more than 86.5 million albums worldwide to date, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. In 2010, Eminem released his seventh studio album Recovery. It became Eminem's sixth consecutive number-one album in the US and achieved international commercial success, charting at number one in several other countries. It stayed at number-one on the US Billboard 200 chart for five consecutive weeks and a total of seven weeks. Recovery was also reported by Billboard to be the best-selling album of 2010, making Eminem the first artist in Nielsen SoundScan history to have two year-end best-selling albums. Recovery is also the best selling digital album in history. Recovery was also named the best selling album worldwide of 2010 joining The Eminem Show which was the best seller of 2002 giving him 2 worldwide year end number 1 albums. With Recovery Eminem achieved the record for most successive US No.1 albums by a solo artist.

In 2005, Eminem was ranked 79th on the VH1 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time. He was also ranked 82nd on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. He was also named the Best Rapper Alive by Vibe magazine in 2008. Including his work with D12, Eminem has achieved nine No. 1 albums on the Billboard Top 200, 7 solo (6 studio albums, 1 compilation) and 2 with D12. Eminem has had 13 number one singles worldwide. In December 2009, Eminem was named the Artist of the Decade by Billboard magazine. His albums The Eminem Show, The Marshall Mathers LP, and Encore (in order) ranked as the 3rd, 7th, best-selling albums of the 2000–2009 decade by Billboard magazine. Also according to Billboard, Eminem has two of his albums among the top five highest selling albums of the 2000s. In the UK, Eminem has sold over 12.5 million records. Eminem has also sold more than 33 million track downloads and 39.6 million albums in the United States alone. In 2010, MTV ranked Eminem as the 7th biggest icon in pop music history. During 2010, Eminem's music generated 94 million streams, more than any other music artist. Eminem has scored over 1 billion views on his official Vevo page on YouTube.

Early life

Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on October 17, 1972, in Saint Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Deborah R. Nelson Mathers-Briggs and Marshall Bruce Mathers, Jr. English, German, Swiss, Polish, and possibly Luxembourgian ancestry. His father abandoned the family when he was 18 months old, and he was raised 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) before they settled in Warren, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

After procuring a copy of the Beastie Boys album Licensed to Ill as a teenager, Mathers became further interested in hip hop, performing amateur raps at age 14 under the pseudonym "M&M;" and joining the group called "Bassmint Productions" 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. Despite a well-documented struggle succeeding in a predominantly African-American industry, he gained the approval of underground hip hop audiences. After repeating the ninth grade twice due to truancy and near-failing grades,

Musical career

1992–1996: Early career and Infinite

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. In 1996, his debut album Infinite, which was recorded at the Bassmint, a recording studio owned by the Bass Brothers, was released under their independent label Web Entertainment. 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." 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. Early in his career, Eminem collaborated with fellow Detroit MC Royce da 5'9" under the stage name Bad Meets Evil. After the release of Infinite, Eminem's personal struggles and abuse of drugs and alcohol culminated in an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Iovine played the tape for record producer Dr. Dre, founder of Aftermath Entertainment. The two began recording tracks for Eminem's upcoming major-label debut The Slim Shady LP, and Eminem made a guest performance on the album Devil Without a Cause by Kid Rock.

1997–1999: The Slim Shady LP

According to Billboard Magazine, at this point in his life Eminem had "realized his musical ambitions were the only way to escape his unhappy life". After being signed to Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records in 1998, Eminem released his first major studio album, The Slim Shady LP, heavily based on the production by Dr. Dre, one year later in 1999. Billboard praised the album as "light years ahead of the material he had been writing beforehand". It went on to be one of the most popular albums of 1999, going triple platinum by the end of the year. With the album's popularity came controversy surrounding many of the album's lyrics. In "'97 Bonnie and Clyde", he describes a trip with his infant daughter, disposing of his wife's body. Another song, "Guilty Conscience", ends with his encouraging a man to murder his wife and her lover. "Guilty Conscience" marked the beginning of the friendship and musical bond that Dr. Dre and Eminem would share. The two label-mates would later collaborate on a line of hit songs, including "Forgot About Dre" and "What's the Difference" from Dr. Dre's album 2001, "Bitch Please II" from The Marshall Mathers LP, "Say What You Say" from The Eminem Show, "Encore/Curtains Down" from Encore and "Old Time's Sake" and "Crack a Bottle" from Relapse. Dr. Dre would go on to make at least one guest appearance on all of Eminem's studio albums under the label Aftermath. The album has now been certified 4x platinum by the RIAA.

With the release of this album, Mathers was accused of imitating the style and subject matter of underground rapper Cage.

1999–2001: The Marshall Mathers LP

The Marshall Mathers LP was released in May 2000. It went on to sell 1.76 million copies in its first week, breaking the records set by Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle as the fastest-selling hip hop album and Britney Spears' ...Baby One More Time as the fastest-selling solo album in United States history. The first single released from the album, "The Real Slim Shady", was a success and created some controversy by insulting celebrities and making dubious claims about them; he states, among other things, that Christina Aguilera performed oral sex on Fred Durst and Carson Daly. In his second single, "The Way I Am", he reveals to his fans the pressures from his record company to top "My Name Is" and sell more records. Although Eminem had parodied shock rocker Marilyn Manson in the video "My Name Is", the artists are reportedly on good terms. They performed a remix of the song "The Way I Am" together in concert. In the third single, "Stan" (which samples Dido's "Thank You"), Eminem attempts to deal with his new-found fame, taking on the persona of a deranged fan who kills himself and his pregnant girlfriend, mirroring "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" on The Slim Shady LP. In the music video of "Stan", Eminem was shown writing with his left hand, ending the fan debate over his dominant hand. Q magazine named "Stan" the third-greatest rap song of all time, and the song came tenth in a similar survey conducted by Top40-Charts.com. The song has since become highly acclaimed and was ranked 290th in Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. In July 2000, Eminem became the first white person to be featured on the cover of The Source magazine. the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), an organization that perceived Eminem's lyrics to be homophobic, condemned the openly gay John's decision to perform with Eminem. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "It was the hug heard 'round the world. Eminem, under fire for homophobic lyrics, shared the stage with a gay icon for a performance of "Stan" that would have been memorable in any context." On February 21, the day of the ceremony, GLAAD held a protest outside the Staples Center, the venue where the Grammy ceremony was held. Music tours that he participated in for 2001 included the Up In Smoke Tour with rappers Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, and Ice Cube and Family Values Tour with the band Limp Bizkit.

2002–2003: The Eminem Show

Eminem's third major album, The Eminem Show, was released in summer 2002 and proved to be another hit for the rapper reaching number one on the charts and selling well over 1 million copies in its first week of release. However, L. Brent Bozell III, who previously criticized The Marshall Mathers LP for perceived misogynistic lyrics in the album, noted The Eminem Show for its extensive use of obscene language, giving Eminem the nickname "Eminef" for the of motherfucker, an obscenity prevalent in the album. The Eminem Show was the best-selling album of 2002.

2003–2005: Encore

On December 8, 2003, the United States Secret Service admitted it was "looking into" allegations that Eminem had threatened the President of the United States. The lyrics in question: "Fuck money/I don't rap for dead presidents/I'd rather see the president dead/It's never been said, but I set precedents ..." The song in question, "We As Americans", wound up on a bonus CD accompanying the album.

In 2004, Eminem released his fourth major album, Encore. The album was another chart-topper, as it was driven by the single "Just Lose It", notable for being disrespectful towards Michael Jackson. On October 12, 2004, a week after the release of "Just Lose It", Eminem's first single off Encore, Michael Jackson called into the Los Angeles-based Steve Harvey radio show to report his displeasure with the video, which parodies Jackson's child molestation trial, plastic surgery, and an incident in which Jackson's hair caught on fire while filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984. The lyrics to "Just Lose It" refer to Jackson's legal troubles, however he does state in his song "... and that's not a stab at Michael/That's just a metaphor/I'm just psycho...." Many of Jackson's supporters and friends spoke out about the video, including Stevie Wonder, who called the video "kicking a man while he's down" and "bullshit", and Steve Harvey, who declared, "Eminem has lost his ghetto pass. We want the pass back."

Regarding Jackson's protest, "Weird Al" Yankovic, who parodied the Eminem song "Lose Yourself" on a track titled "Couch Potato" on his 2003 album Poodle Hat, told the Chicago Sun-Times, "Last year, Eminem forced me to halt production on the video for my "Lose Yourself" parody because he somehow thought that it would be harmful to his image or career. So the irony of this situation with Michael is not lost on me." Black Entertainment Television was the first channel to stop airing the video. MTV, however, announced it would continue airing the video. The Source, through its CEO Raymond "Benzino" Scott, wanted not only the video to be pulled, but the song off the album, and a public apology to Jackson from Eminem. In 2007 Jackson and Sony bought Famous Music LLC from Viacom. This deal gave him the rights to songs by Eminem, Shakira and Beck, among others.

Despite the comedic theme of the lead single, Encore had its fair share of serious subject matter, including the anti-war track "Mosh". On October 25, 2004, a week before the 2004 US Presidential election, Eminem released the video for "Mosh" on the Internet. The song featured a very strong anti-Bush message, with lyrics such as "fuck Bush" and "this weapon of mass destruction that we call our president". The video features Eminem gathering up an army of people, including rapper Lloyd Banks, presented as victims of the Bush administration and leading them to the White House. However, once the army breaks in, it is revealed that they are there to simply register to vote, and the video ends with the words "VOTE Tuesday November 2" on the screen. After Bush was re-elected, the video's ending was changed to Eminem and the protesters invading while Bush was giving a speech.

2005–2007: Musical hiatus

In 2005, some industry insiders speculated that Eminem was considering ending his rapping career after six years and several multi-platinum albums. Speculation began in early 2005 about a double-disc album to be released late that year, rumored to be titled The Funeral. The album later manifested itself as a greatest hits album under the name in December. In July 2005, the Detroit Free Press broke news of a potential final bow for Eminem as a solo performer, quoting members of his inside circle who said that he will begin to fully embrace the role of producer and label executive. On the same day of the release of the compilation album, Eminem denied that he was retiring on Detroit-based WKQI's "Mojo in the Morning" radio show, but implied that he would at least be taking a break as an artist, saying "I'm at a point in my life right now where I feel like I don't know where my career is going ... This is the reason that we called it 'Curtain Call', because this could be the final thing. We don't know." He released The Re-Up with the members of his record label, Shady Records. It was released in 2006.

In 2005, Eminem was a subject of Bernard Goldberg's book, 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America; he ranked No. 58. Goldberg cited a 2001 column by Bob Herbert of The New York Times claiming, "In Eminem's world, all women are whores and he is eager to rape and murder them." Goldberg cited Eminem's song "No One's Iller" from The Slim Shady EP as an example of misogyny in his music. In summer 2005, Eminem embarked on his first US concert run in three years, the Anger Management 3 Tour, featuring 50 Cent, G-Unit, Lil' Jon, D12, Obie Trice, The Alchemist, and others. In August 2005, Eminem canceled the European leg of the tour and subsequently announced that he had entered drug rehabilitation for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication".

Curtain Call: The Hits was released on December 6, 2005, under Aftermath Entertainment. In its first week it sold nearly 441,000 copies in the US and was Eminem's fourth straight No. 1 album on the Billboard Hot 200. The album has been certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA.

2007–2009: Relapse and Relapse: Refill

In September 2007, Eminem called into New York radio station Hot 97 during an interview with 50 Cent and said he was "in limbo" and "debating" about when and if he would release another album. He said, "I'm always working – I'm always in the studio. It feels good right now, the energy of the label. For a while, I didn't want to go back to the studio ... I went through some personal things. I'm coming out of those personal things [and] it feels good."

Eminem made an appearance on his Sirius channel Shade 45 in September 2008 in which he said, "Right now I'm kinda just concentrating on my own stuff, for right now and just banging out tracks and producing a lot of stuff. You know, the more I keep producing the better it seems like I get 'cause I just start knowing stuff." It was around this time that Interscope finally confirmed the existence of a new Eminem album, with Spring 2009 later being stated as the period span in which the album is due. In December 2008, he gave more details on the album, which he recently reported was being titled Relapse. He said, "Me and Dre are back in the lab like the old days, man. Dre will end up producing the majority of the tracks on 'Relapse'. We are up to our old mischievous ways ... let's just leave it at that."

On March 5, 2009, Eminem reported in a press release that he would be releasing two new albums that year. Relapse, the first album, was released on May 19, while "We Made You", the first official single and its music video, were released on April 7. While Relapse didn't manage to sell as well as Eminem's previous efforts, it was still a commercial success that received some critical acclaim, while also re-establishing his presence in the hip hop world. Relapse was named one of the top albums of 2009. Relapse has sold more than five million copies worldwide. During the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, Sacha Baron Cohen descended upon the audience wearing an angel's costume and landed on top of Eminem with his buttocks facing towards Eminem's face, resulting in Eminem storming out of the awards ceremony in disgust. Three days later, Eminem stated it was a staged act that they had planned together. On October 30, Eminem performed at the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans as a headliner in his first full performance in 2009. The performance included several songs from Relapse, as well as many of Eminem's older hits and an appearance by D12. On November 19, Eminem announced on his website that Relapse: Refill would be released on December 21. The album was a re-release of the Relapse album with seven bonus tracks, including "Forever" and "Taking My Ball". In a statement he described the forthcoming CD:

2010–present: Recovery and Bad Meets Evil reunion

On April 14, 2010, Eminem tweeted, "There is no Relapse 2", to his followers. When he tweeted this, people started to believe that he was not releasing an album at all, but it simply meant that the album title would be changed to Recovery. He confirmed this by tweeting, "RECOVERY", with a link to his website. Eminem said, "I had originally planned for Relapse 2 to come out last year. But as I kept recording and working with new producers, the idea of a sequel to Relapse started to make less and less sense to me, and I wanted to make a completely new album. The music on Recovery came out very different from Relapse, and I think it deserves its own title." His seventh studio album, Recovery, was released on June 21. In the US, Recovery sold 741,000 in its first week to land atop the Billboard 200. The first single, "Not Afraid", was released on April 29, and debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by a second single, "Love the Way You Lie," which debuted at number 2 and then rose. Despite some criticism towards its consistency, Recovery received positive reviews from most music critics. , the album had sold three million copies in the US.

Eminem appeared at the 2010 BET Awards, performing "Airplanes Part II" with B.o.B and "Not Afraid". He also performed at the Activison E3 concert. In June 2010, Eminem and Jay-Z announced they would perform together in a pair of concerts in Detroit and New York. The event was dubbed The Home & Home Tour. The first two concerts rapidly sold out, prompting the scheduling of an additional show at each venue. BET also named Eminem the No.1 rapper of the 21st century.

Eminem opened the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010, by performing "Not Afraid" and "Love the Way You Lie", with Rihanna performing the chorus. Due to the success of Recovery and the Home & Home Tour, he was named the 2010 Hottest MC in the Game by MTV and "Emcee of the Year" by Hip-Hop news website HipHopDX.

Eminem and Rihanna collaborated once again to make "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)", the sequel to their hit single "Love the Way You Lie". Rihanna is the lead singer, as opposed to Eminem being the main singer in the original "Love the Way You Lie". The song is said to be from the female perspective. Nicki Minaj collaborated with rapper Eminem on a song titled "Roman's Revenge" that appears on her album Pink Friday album. The song references Minaj's alter-ego Roman Zolanski and features Eminem's alter-ego Slim Shady. He also featured on I Need a Doctor, the second single from Detox, as well as its third upcoming single, "Die Hard"

In December 2010, in Billboards "The Top 25 Music Moments of 2010", The "Great Eminem Recovery" was named the number one music moment of 2010. Eminem appeared at the 2011 Grammy Awards on February 13, 2011, by performing "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" with Rihanna and Adam Levine, and "I Need a Doctor" with Dr. Dre and Skylar Grey. In February, 2011, it was announced that "Space Bound" would be released as the fourth single off of Recovery along with a music video for the song currently being shot with former porn star Sasha Grey.

In 2010, Eminem started collaborating with Royce Da 5'9" on their first EP as Bad Meets Evil. The duo was formed in 1999 and has reunited. The EP, entitled , has been confirmed to be slated for release on June 14, 2011. Eminem was featured on 'Writer's Block' with Royce Da 5'9", which was officially released on April 8, 2011. On May 3, 2011, they released the lead single "Fast Lane" for the upcoming sequel.

In March 2011, within days of each other, both The Eminem Show and The Marshall Mathers LP were certified diamond by the RIAA. This makes Eminem the only rapper to have two diamond-certified albums.

Eminem has also climbed to the top of the Facebook charts by being the most followed person with more than 40 million "likes", outscoring Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Michael Jackson.

Other ventures

Shady Records and D12

As Eminem succeeded in multi-platinum record sales, Interscope granted him his own record label. He and his manager Paul Rosenberg created Shady Records in late 1999. He followed this by signing his own Detroit collective D12 and rapper Obie Trice to the label. In 2002, Eminem signed 50 Cent through a joint venture between Shady and Dr. Dre's Aftermath label. In 2003, Eminem and Dr. Dre signed Atlanta rapper Stat Quo to the Shady/Aftermath roster. DJ Green Lantern, the former DJ for Eminem, was signed to Shady Records until a dispute related to the 50 Cent and Jadakiss feud forced him to depart from the label; he is no longer associated with Eminem. The Alchemist is now officially Eminem's tour DJ. In 2005, Eminem signed another Atlanta rapper, Bobby Creekwater, to his label along with West Coast rapper Cashis.

On December 5, 2006, Shady Records released compilation album, . It started out as a mixtape but Eminem found that the material was better than expected and released it as a full album. It was meant to help launch the new artists under the roster, like Stat Quo, Cashis and Bobby Creekwater. Around the time of recording Infinite, Eminem and rappers Proof and Kon Artis gathered the group of rappers now collectively in the group D12, short for "Detroit Twelve" or "Dirty Dozen", performing in the manner of the multi-man group Wu-Tang Clan. In 2001, Eminem brought his rap group, D12, to the popular music scene, and the group's debut album Devil's Night came out that year. The first single released off of the album was "Shit on You", followed by "Purple Pills", an ode to recreational drug use. For radio and television, the censored version "Pills" was heavily rewritten to remove many of the song's references to drugs and sex and was renamed "Purple Hills". While that single was a hit, the album's second single, "Fight Music", was not as successful.

After their debut, D12 took a three-year break from the studio, later regrouping to release their second album, D12 World, in 2004, which featured the popular hit single release "My Band". D12 member Bizarre said that Eminem is not featured on his new album Blue Cheese & Coney Island because "he's busy doing his thing". D12 released a mixtape in 2011 titled Return of the Dozen Volume 2 only featuring Eminem on one song, "Fame" unlike the groups previous mixtape Return of the Dozen where Eminem is not on any tracks.

Acting career

Although he had a cameo in the 2001 film, The Wash, Eminem made his official Hollywood acting debut with the semi-autobiographical 8 Mile, released in November 2002. He has said the movie is not an account of his life, but a representation of growing up in Detroit. He recorded several new songs for the soundtrack, including "Lose Yourself," which won an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 2003. However, the song was not performed at the ceremony, due to Eminem's absence at the ceremony. His collaborator, Luis Resto, who co-wrote the song, accepted the award.

Eminem has participated in various voice acting roles. Some of these include the video game , where he voices an aging corrupt police officer who speaks in Ebonics and guest spots on the Comedy Central television show Crank Yankers, and a web cartoon called The Slim Shady Show, which has since been pulled off-line and is instead sold on DVD. He will be involved in either the soundtrack or scoring. He was also in the running for the part of David Rice in 2008's film Jumper after Tom Sturridge was dropped just two weeks before filming. Concerns over not having a more prominent actor prompted the director, Doug Liman, to consider other actors for the role. He eventually selected Hayden Christensen over Eminem. He also had a cameo appearance in the 2009 movie Funny People, in which he is involved in an argument with Ray Romano.

It was reported on November 8, 2009, that Eminem will star in the upcoming 3D horror anthology, Shady Talez, directed by John Davis. A four-issue comic book series based on the film is also expected to be published sometime in 2010.

Eminem appeared alongside Christina Aguilera on the Entourage Season 7 finale titled 'Lose Yourself' as himself. In December 2010, Deadline Hollywood announced that Eminem will star in the upcoming boxing drama, Southpaw, to be written by Kurt Sutter and directed by Antoine Fuqua. Will be released in 2013. In January 2011, a report surfaced that Eminem will star in the upcoming thriller, Random Acts of Violence.

Memoir

On October 21, 2008, Eminem released a tell-all autobiography entitled The Way I Am, which details his struggles with poverty, drugs, fame, heartbreak and depression, along with stories about his rise to fame and commentary on past controversies. This book also contains some of the original lyric sheets from songs such as "Stan" and "The Real Slim Shady."

Advertising

Eminem was featured in two commercials that aired during Super Bowl XLV. The first, for Lipton's Brisk Iced Tea, was a one-minute spot that featured him as a claymation figure. The other was a two-minute ad, the longest in Super Bowl history, for the Chrysler 200. It featured Eminem driving through Detroit and ended with him taking the stage at the Fox Theatre with "Lose Yourself" playing as the soundtrack.

Artistry

Influences and rapping technique

Eminem has named several MCs who influenced his rapping style, in-addition to his mentor, Dr. Dre, who share the same type of music: thick, muscular loops that evoked the terror and paranoia that his music conjured, these influences included Esham, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Big Daddy Kane, In the same book, Eminem is praised for various aspects of his rapping technique by numerous other MCs – these techniques include: his varied and humorous subject matter, connecting with his audience, carrying a concept over a series of albums, complex rhyme schemes, his ability to bend words so that they rhyme, his use of multisyllabic rhymes, complex rhythms, clear enunciation, use of melody, and syncopation. He is also known to write the majority of his lyrics down on paper, as documented in his book The Way I Am, as well as taking a few days or a week to craft lyrics, being a “workaholic”, and “stacking” vocals.

Alter egos

Eminem uses alter egos in his song to use different styles of rapping and subject matters. His most famous and popular alter ego, "Slim Shady" originated from The Slim Shady EP. While under this personality, Eminem makes violent and dark songs with a comical twist. Though his Slim Shady persona has remained, Eminem did not include it in Recovery as much because he didn't feel it fit the theme. Eminem is considered to be an alter-ego itself, with his true self being Marshall Mathers. Another character Eminem has portrayed is Ken Kaniff, originally played by a friend of Eminem in the Slim Shady LP, but the Marshall Mathers LP and onwards has been played by Eminem. In his Ken Kaniff personality, Ken is a homosexual who pokes fun at Eminem's songs.

Featurings and productions

Although he typically collaborates with various rappers under Aftermath Entertainment and Shady Records, such as Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, D12, and Obie Trice, Eminem has collaborated with many other artists, including Redman, Kid Rock, DMX, Missy Elliott, Jay-Z, Method Man, Jadakiss, Fat Joe, Sticky Fingaz, T.I. and others. Eminem rapped a verse in a live performance of Busta Rhymes' "Touch It" remix at the 2006 BET Music Awards on June 27, 2006. Eminem was featured on Akon's single "Smack That" which appeared on his album Konvicted. He was featured on Lil Wayne's hit song Drop the World.

Eminem is also an active rap producer. Besides being the executive producer of D12's first two albums, Devil's Night and D12 World, he has executive produced Obie Trice's Cheers and Second Round's on Me as well as 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre. In addition, Eminem has produced songs by other famous rappers, such as Jadakiss' "Welcome To D-Block", Jay-Z's "Renegade" and "Moment of Clarity" Lloyd Banks' "On Fire", "Warrior Part 2", and "Hands Up", Tony Yayo's "Drama Setter", Trick-Trick's "Welcome 2 Detroit", and Xzibit's "My Name" and "Don't Approach Me". Most of The Eminem Show was produced by Eminem himself, with co-production from longtime collaborator Jeff Bass. He split the production with Dr. Dre on Encore. In 2004, Eminem was the Executive Producer of 2Pac's posthumous album Loyal to the Game with 2Pac's mother Afeni Shakur. He produced the UK No. 1 single "Ghetto Gospel" which featured Elton John. He has produced "The Cross" off Nas's album God's Son. On August 15, 2006, Obie Trice released Second Round's on Me. Eminem produced 8 tracks on the album. He was featured in the song "There They Go". Eminem produced some tracks on the new Trick-Trick album, The Villain. He is also featured in "Who Want It".

With regard to the productions on his own records, Eminem is seen as having an unusual style in that rather than write to beats he typically starts with an idea of how he wants his song to be structured based on the lyrics and then creates music according to that. A notable exception to this was the song "Stan", which came from an idea and scratch track produced by Mark the 45 King. but remarried in January 2006. Their second divorce was finalized in December of the same year, with the couple agreeing to share custody of their daughter, Hailie Jade Mathers (born December 25, 1995). Hailie Mathers has often been referenced or featured on various songs by Mathers including "'97 Bonnie & Clyde", "Hailie's Song", "My Dad's Gone Crazy", "Mockingbird", "When I'm Gone" and "Beautiful".

In early 2010, Mathers responded publicly to tabloid reports of his pending reunion with Kim with a firm denial.

Mathers adopted two other daughters: Alaina "Lainie" Mathers, the child of Kimberley Scott's sister,

On July 7, 2000, Eminem's then-wife, Kimberly Scott attempted suicide by slashing her wrists. Scott sued Eminem for defamation after he depicted her violent death in his song "Kim".

Mathers was arrested on June 3, 2000 during an altercation at a car audio store in Royal Oak, Michigan, with Douglas Dail, where he pulled out an unloaded gun and kept it pointed at the ground. The following day, in Warren, Michigan, he allegedly saw his then wife, Kim, kiss bouncer John Guerrera in the parking lot of the Hot Rock Café, and he assaulted him.

On October 26, 2000, Eminem was to perform at a concert in Toronto's Skydome. However, Ontario Attorney General Jim Flaherty argued that Canada should stop Eminem at the border. "I personally don't want anyone coming to Canada who will come here and advocate violence against women," he said. Eminem's Toronto concert went on as planned that night.

In the summer of 2001, Mathers was sentenced to probation on weapons charges that stemmed from an argument with an employee of Psychopathic Records, giving him a fine around $2,000 as well as several hours of community service.

In 2002, French jazz pianist Jacques Loussier filed a $10 million lawsuit against Eminem and Dr. Dre, claiming the beat for "Kill You" was stolen from his song. Loussier demanded that all sales of the album be halted and any remaining copies destroyed. A trial date was set to begin in June 2004. The case was later settled.

On December 8, 2003, the United States Secret Service admitted it was "looking into" allegations that Eminem had threatened the President of the United States, George W. Bush, after the song "We as Americans", as an unreleased bootleg, circulated with the lyrics "Fuck money, I don't rap for dead presidents. I'd rather see the president dead, it's never been said but I set precedents." The incident was later referenced in the video for his song "Mosh" as one several news clips on a wall, along with other newspaper articles about other unfortunate incidents in Bush's career. The song eventually appeared on the album's bonus disc, where the lyrics were extensively censored.

In July of 2006, a man claimed that he was physically assaulted by Mathers at the Cheetah strip club on 8 Mile Road in Detroit. The man claimed that he and a friend entered the restroom where Mathers was using the urinal. The man's friend attempted to talk to Mathers, when Mathers' bodyguard instructed the man to refrain from talking to him. The man spoke in defense of his friend and said that Mathers was "a star" and that there was "nothing wrong" with talking to him. After finishing urinating, the man claimed Mathers punched him in the face several times and fled the scene with his entourage. The man said that he had witnessed a member of the entourage waving a gun from the interior of a car after the group had fled. No charges were filed against Mathers.

In 2007, his music publishing company, Eight Mile Style LLC, together with Martin Affiliated LLC, filed suit against Apple, Inc and Aftermath Entertainment claiming Aftermath did not have the appropriate authority to negotiate a deal with Apple for digital downloads of 93 Eminem songs on Apple's iTunes service. The case against Apple was settled shortly after trial began in late September 2009.

Drug issues

Eminem has spoken openly about his addiction to prescription drugs, including Vicodin, Ambien, Valium and Methadone. His group-mate Proof from D12 stated that Mathers "sobered up" in 2002 from drug and alcohol dependence. However, he did turn to zolpidem (Ambien) sleeping pills for relief from sleeping troubles. This caused Mathers to cancel the European leg of the Anger Management Tour in August 2005 and eventually go into rehab for treatment for a "dependency on sleep medication". In a 2009 interview with British talk-show host Jonathan Ross, Mathers admitted that at the height of his addiction, he considered suicide, saying that, "I just wasn't taking care of myself, at times I wanted to just give it up." He also confirmed that he is now sober, commenting that, "[R]ap was my drug ... Then I had to resort to other things to make me feel that. Now rap's getting me high again."

Feuds

Throughout his career, Eminem created a large number of rivals in the music industry, including Ja Rule, Benzino, Everlast, Insane Clown Posse, Canibus and others.

Insane Clown Posse

The feud began in 1997, when Eminem was throwing a party to promote his debut EP, The Slim Shady EP. He gave Violent J a flyer which stated "Appearances from ICP... maybe". The diss track paints Eminem as a homosexual. Later, Eminem went on a radio station and said that he didn't respond because he thought he was "too big for" them.

Eminem did continue to insult Insane Clown Posse on various tracks from his album The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), including the songs "Marshall Mathers" and "Ken Kaniff". On "Marshall Mathers", Eminem rapped: "Plus I was put here to put fear in faggots who spray Faygo Root Beer and call themselves "Clowns" cause they look queer Faggot2Dope and Silent Gay/claiming Detroit, when y'all live twenty miles away (fuckin punks)". Eminem also mentioned that he did not need his fellow band members of D12 to defend him from "females when they try to scratch me with...nails." In the song, Eminem attacked the ICP members' street credibility and accused them of being homosexuals.

On the skit "Ken Kaniff", the duo are depicted as graphically fellating Ken Kanniff, a fictional gay character created by Eminem. The gay character instructs the duo to "say my name", to which one member responds, "Eminem", angering Ken Kaniff. The skit closes with Ken Kaniff refusing to allow them to further perform oral sex on him and Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope angry at the loss.

In 2002, Eminem also briefly dissed them on his single "Business" from his album The Eminem Show.

Insane Clown Posse talked about the feud being squashed in an interview with MTV, saying that Proof squashed the conflict in 2005 and had a bowling game. Violent J stated that, "He contacted us and we had a bowling game – it was really cool. We're something different. They could have skipped over us and said forget them, but they included us and said let's squash it."

Everlast/Limp Bizkit

In the early 2000s, Eminem was notified while on the Anger Management Tour that former House Of Pain member Everlast had mocked him on a song. Everlast claimed that while passing by Mathers in a hotel lobby, Mathers gave him a "weird look." Taking offense to this, Eminem and D12 quickly began work on a retaliatory song, "I Remember." This prompted Everlast to record "Whitey's Revenge." Eminem and D12 then responded with the song "Quitter." It was reported that long-time friends of Eminem, Limp Bizkit, were meant to be featured on the song, but Fred Durst canceled at the last moment. The record continued its release without featuring Limp Bizkit, causing the Everlast-Mathers dispute to continue. In a TRL interview, Limp Bizkit member, DJ Lethal, made a statement that if Mathers and Everlast were to fight in real life, Everlast would win. This angered Eminem to the point of rage, and an insulting track aimed at both Everlast and Limp Bizkit (namely Durst and Lethal) appeared on D12's mainstream debut, Devil's Night, as the track "Girls." Recently, things seem to have settled, and Eminem has no longer been heard insulting Everlast or Limp Bizkit. It is currently unknown if the dispute is resolved.

Canibus

The animus between Canibus and Eminem started when Canibus and Wyclef Jean confronted Eminem and asked him if he ghost-wrote the track "The Ripper Strikes Back" by LL Cool J. Eminem denied that he wrote the track. After he was confronted, he said Canibus was "rude" to him. Eminem decided to take more shots at Canibus on his album The Eminem Show (2002) on tracks such as "Say What You Say", "When The Music Stops" and "Square Dance".

Ja Rule

Eminem's conflict with Ja Rule started after 50 Cent signed to Shady Records and Aftermath. Ja Rule stated that he had a problem with Eminem and Dr. Dre of signing someone he had conflict with. On November 19, Ja Rule and Irv Gotti were special guests on Star and Bucwild's morning show on Hot 97 NYC. Irv Gotti had some 'legal documents' stating the order of protection 50 'has on him'. Ja Rule threatened, that if 50 Cent released any diss track, he would take action towards his two producers.

Busta Rhymes decided to join the conflict when he was featured on the track "Hail Mary 2003", with Eminem and 50 Cent.

The feud intensified when Ja Rule released a diss called "Loose Change" in which he took shots at 50 Cent and as well Eminem calling him "Feminem" and Dr. Dre as "bisexual" and claimed that Suge Knight knew of Dre "bringing transvestites home". despite the fact that the album received overwhelmingly positive reviews. The low rating greatly angered Eminem who felt his album deserved more. In 2003, Benzino, a rapper who had secretly co-owned The Source for some time, released a diss single titled "Pull Your Skirt Up" which insulted Eminem. The track attacked Eminem's "street cred" (although Eminem has never claimed to be "... reppin' the streets," a line Benzino includes in the song) and accused him of being a tool of the music industry. In the same year, The Source attempted to tarnish Eminem's image by digging up an old tape from his time as a young rapper in Detroit where he insulted black women and used the word "nigger.". The song, called "Foolish Pride" was recorded in the late 1980s when Eminem had been "dumped" by his then-African-American girlfriend. It was banned on the BET channel, after complaints from Benzino and others (but was later reinstated, as critics of the ban argued that Nelly's "Tip Drill" video could be seen). Both were only seen on . However MTV did not drop it, and the video became one of the most requested on the channel.

A week after the release of "Just Lose It", Jackson called into the radio show of Steve Harvey to report his displeasure with the video.

"I am very angry at Eminem's depiction of me in his video," Jackson said in the interview. "I feel that it is outrageous and disrespectful. It is one thing to spoof, but it is another to be demeaning and insensitive."

The singer continued: "I've admired Eminem as an artist, and was shocked by this. The video was inappropriate and disrespectful to me, my children, my family and the community at large."

Many of Jackson's supporters and friends spoke out about the video, including Stevie Wonder, who called the video "kicking a man while he's down" and "bullshit", She says that they hung out but nothing sexual or intimate occurred. Eminem has referenced her on many songs that include "Superman", "Jimmy Crack Corn", "Bagpipes From Baghdad", and "The Warning". While "Superman" was released in 2003, Carey released a song entitled "Clown" on her Charmbracelet album, released in 2002, which makes similar references in line with her 2009 hit "Obsessed".

Eminem's "Bagpipes From Baghdad" from his album Relapse may be his most well known reference to Carey due to the controversy it caused. The song disparages Carey and husband Nick Cannon's relationship. Cannon responded to Eminem by saying his career is based on "racist bigotry", and that he would get revenge on Eminem, joking that he may return to rapping. Eminem later stated that the couple misinterpreted the track and it was wishing the two the best.

In 2009, Carey released "Obsessed" in which she sings about an obsessed man who claims to be having a relationship with her. Cannon claimed that the song was not an insult directed at Eminem. However, Eminem responded in late July 2009 by releasing a track titled "The Warning". It contained samples of voice mail recordings which Eminem claimed were left by Mariah Carey when the two were together. Eminem also hinted that he had other evidence of their relationship in his possession. A little over a year later in September 2010 Nick Cannon responded with the song "I'm a Slick Rick" which in Slick Rick's flow he takes shots at Eminem.

Discography

Infinite (1996)

The Slim Shady LP (1999)

The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

The Eminem Show (2002)

Encore (2004)

Relapse (2009)

Recovery (2010)

Number-one singles

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Eminem has thirteen Grammy Awards. He has been praised for having "verbal energy", high quality of lyricism and has been ranked number nine on MTV's list of The Greatest MCs of All Time. In 2003 he was listed as number thirteen on MTV's 22 Greatest Voices in Music and number 82 on Rolling Stones "The Immortals". In 2008, the readers of Vibe Magazine voted him "The Best Rapper Alive". He was also named "Best Rapper Ever" in a poll conducted by music fans on the Vibe website.

Ironically, "The Real Slim Shady", one of the songs from his second Grammy-winning album, The Marshall Mathers LP, slammed the Grammy Awards in its second verse, and stated the opinion that negative feelings about his material would keep him from ever winning one.

Business ventures

Shady Records

Shade 45 Sirius

Shady Ltd. Clothing

Shady Games

Eight Mile Style LLC

See also

Artists with the most number-one European singles

List of artists who reached number one in the United States

List of best-selling music artists

List of best-selling music artists in the United States

List of best-selling singles worldwide

References

Literature

External links

Official website

Official YouTube channel

YouTube Vevo channel

}} Category:1972 births Category:1990s rappers Category:2000s rappers Category:2010s rappers Category:Actors from Michigan Category:Actors from Missouri Category:Aftermath Entertainment artists Category:American film actors Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American male singers Category:American musicians of English descent Category:American musicians of German descent Category:American musicians of Scottish descent Category:American people of Swiss descent Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:BRIT Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Hip hop singers Category:Horrorcore artists Category:Living people Category:People from St. Joseph, Missouri Category:People self-identifying as substance abusers Category:Pseudonymous rappers Category:Rappers from Detroit, Michigan Category:Rappers from Missouri Category:Shady Records artists Category:World Music Awards winners