Eminem - Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972) in Kansas City, Missouri, better known by his stage name Eminem, is a Grammy and Academy Award-winning American rapper, record producer and occasional actor. He was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri,[1] and was raised in Warren, Michigan. His talents were discovered by rapper and producer Dr. Dre, Eminem got his big break when he signed with Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, becoming a crossover sensation with his debut single 'My Name Is' and simultaneously earning respect for his technical and lyrical ability. Eminem is noted for his ability to change his vocal pace and style multiple times within one song without losing the beat, and has been praised for his skill in alliteration and assonance. He's also 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. The most recent release from Aftermath was a greatest hits album from Eminem called Curtain Call: The Hits in 2005, a compilation covering many of his previous commercial hit songs, in addition to three new tracks. Mathers has stated that he is taking a break from solo work, but is in no way retiring as he continues to produce and collaborate with his fellow Aftermath artists as well as G-Unit artists and rappers under his Shady Records label. To date, Eminem has sold around 77 million albums worldwide. By most accounts, the Mathers family was poor. They moved constantly, during which Marshall and his mother often lived in trailers, mobile homes, and under the care of relatives. From time to time they also lived in their car, and in fact this is where Eminem's little brother Nathan Samra-Mathers, was born. During this time, Debbie Mathers was taking the prescription medications Vicodin and Valium; Marshall Mathers later claimed in numerous interviews and songs that his mother was abusing the drugs,[2] to which she retaliated with a lawsuit pressing defamation charges (see below). In the song 'Cleaning Out My Closet' (The Eminem Show, 2002), Mathers also accuses his mother of having Munchausen syndrome by proxy, adding that 'my whole life I was made to believe I was sick when I wasn't.' This was not the first time someone had suggested she had the disorder; a social worker had made similar comments following a 1996 investigation of her mistreatment of Nathan. Mathers was especially close to his uncle, Ronald 'Ronnie' Polkingharn, who was born just three months before him on July 27, 1972. Polkingharn introduced Mathers to hip-hop and the two were best friends. On December 14, 1991, 19-year-old Polkingharn committed suicide, an event which Mathers has said was devastating, not just to him but to the entire extended family. Ronnie Nelson's older brother Steven suffered a stroke as a result of the stress. Mathers was so distraught he abandoned his musical career for a year. References to Ronnie's death appear in several songs, including 'Stan', 'Cleaning Out My Closet', 'Mockingbird,' 'How Come,' (by D12) and 'My Dad's Gone Crazy.' Mathers has a tattoo on his upper left arm that says 'Ronnie R.I.P.' Before dropping out of Lincoln High School in Warren at the age of 17 after failing ninth grade three times, Mathers made a number of significant acquaintances at the school, including Evan Perks, a three-time chess champion who was shot in a drive by, the late rapper Proof, who was to become one of his closest friends, and future wife Kimberly Ann 'Kim' Scott, with whom he soon developed a long-term relationship. When she became pregnant, Mathers started working on getting a record deal to support his new family; He discusses this in 'Never 2 Far' (Infinite, 1996), saying 'I got a baby on the way, I don't even got a car...I still stay with my moms...we gotta make some hit records or something [because] I'm tired of being broke...' When the Infinite album failed to generate the revenue and acclaim he had hoped for, she ended their relationship, preventing him from seeing his newborn child, a daughter named Hailie Jade Scott (born December 25, 1995); distraught, he attempted suicide with an overdose of Tylenol. After the attempt failed, he resumed his efforts to succeed in the music industry and reconcile with his ex-girlfriend.(Linda Swanna) [3] He ultimately succeeded in doing both, marrying her on June 14, 1999, in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Mathers would go on to mention his daughter extensively in some of his songs, including ''97 Bonnie & Clyde' (The Slim Shady LP, 1999), which takes the form of a one-sided dialogue with Hailie, as well as 'Hailie's Song' (The Eminem Show, 2002), 'Mockingbird' (‘‘Encore’’, 2004), and 'When I'm Gone' (Curtain Call: The Hits, 2005), all of which are proclamations of his love and dedication to her. In addition, he samples her voice in the track 'My Dad's Gone Crazy' (The Eminem Show, 2002).