Music / Film & TV / Business & brands
Eminem
born 1972 · rapper, songwriter, record producer, actor
Detroit-raised rapper who came up through the city's open-mic battles and became one of the best-selling artists in music history.
- Born
St. Joseph, Missouri
age 53- Birth name
- Marshall Bruce Mathers III
- Also known as
- Slim Shady · Marshall Mathers
- Detroit years
- 1980s–present
- Field
- Music, Film & TV, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Marshall Mathers was born in Missouri and spent his childhood moving between Missouri and Detroit's northern suburbs before settling with his mother on the city's east side, just south of 8 Mile Road, at about age 12. He dropped out of Lincoln High School in Warren, worked kitchen jobs, and slipped into Osborn High School's lunchroom to battle-rap with his friend DeShaun “Proof” Holton. On Saturdays the two tested themselves at the Hip Hop Shop on West Seven Mile, the heart of the 1990s Detroit scene, and in the Shelter beneath St. Andrew's Hall. Local producers Jeff and Mark Bass released his debut Infinite in 1996; the Slim Shady EP led to a deal with Dr. Dre in 1998. He then took Detroit friends along: D12, Shady Records (co-founded with manager Paul Rosenberg) and the semi-autobiographical film 8 Mile, shot in Detroit and Highland Park. He still lives in the area and opened Mom's Spaghetti on Woodward Avenue in 2021.
Highlights
- “Lose Yourself” held No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 weeks and won the 2003 Oscar for Best Original Song.
- The Eminem Show was the world's best-selling album of 2002.
- 15 Grammy Awards; inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, his first year of eligibility.
- Co-founded Shady Records in 1999, which signed D12, Obie Trice and 50 Cent.
- Starred in 8 Mile (2002), a drama set in 1995 Detroit.
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 8
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Performed here · mid-1990s
The Hip Hop Shop
Closed · 1993–1997
Maurice Malone's clothing store, whose Saturday open mics hosted by Proof were Eminem's proving ground; the storefront was vacant as of 2018.
Performed here · 1990s
Saint Andrew’s Hall
The basement club under Saint Andrew's Hall, one of Eminem's first stages; 8 Mile recreated it on a soundstage.
Related place · late 1980s
Osborn High School
Eminem sneaked into this neighborhood school's lunchroom with Proof for freestyle battles.
Studied here · late 1980s
Lincoln High School (Warren)
He repeated ninth grade here three times and dropped out at 17.
Lived here · 1980s–1990s
Childhood home (east side, near 8 Mile Road)
Demolished · 2013
The bungalow on Detroit's east side where he lived with his mother; the state demolished it in 2013 after an arson fire.
Related place
8 Mile Road
The city-suburb boundary road that gave his 2002 film its title.
Founded · 2021–present
Mom's Spaghetti
Eminem's restaurant named after a line in “Lose Yourself”, opened on September 29, 2021.
Performed here · 2024
Michigan Central Station
He performed at the 2024 concert celebrating the restored station's reopening.