He was born in St.Joseph, Missouri October 17,1972. His real name is Marshall Mathers III. He was raised by a a single mother, Debbie Mathers-Briggs. He spent his early childhood between St.Joseph and Detroit.
He started rapping at the age of 14 with his high school friend. They called themselves "Manix" and "M&M", from which the name Eminem came from. At the start of his music career he was working with several different groups like The New Jacks, and Sole Intent. He went solo in 1997 and released his first album "Infinite". After releasing the album he developed an alter ego "Slim Shady", which shows in his next album "Slim Shady EP". He started working with Dr.Dre in 1998 and in early 1999 he published his 3rd album "Slim Shady LP". He gained a lot of attention from this album, and especially from the single "My Name is".
Later in 2000 he made the album "The Marshall Mathers LP", which sold almost two million copies within the two first weeks of its release. His biggest hit "Stan" was made in 2001 with Elton John. He also won an Oscar that year with one of his biggest hits "Lose yourself". Eminems songs touch on some very dark subjects like suicide. He has won over 19 awards.
Sources:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/eminem-mn0000157676/biography
http://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/eminem
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004896/awards