Eminem is arguably one of the most well known rappers across the
world, but while he's made a huge name for himself in music, he's had
his fair share of hurdles along the way.
And now the musician
, 42, has been spotted looking barely recognisable, with gaunt features and a thin face, sparking worry from fans.
The rap star was making a speech at the Wall Street Journal's
Innovator Of The Year Awards in New York on Wednesday, when he appeared
tired and slimmer than ever.
And fans reacted with shock, with one Twitter user writing: "This
story makes me so sad!" And another added: "Eminem Health Alert..."
Here we look at the star's rise to fame, and the troubles he's encountered along the way.
Eminem
- real name Marshall Mathers - was brought up by his mother Deborah
Mathers in Missouri, after his father walked out while he was still
young.
The star has since recalled "changing schools two, three
times a year" as his mum struggled to hold down a job for more than a
few months.
The youngster was bullied at school, and previously
recalled to CNN reporter Anderson Cooper being "beat up in the bathroom,
beat up in the hallways, shoved into lockers".
And as the star
has released more records, he's painted a troubling picture of his
mother, who he's claimed in his tunes was addicted to prescription drugs
and often abused him emotionally and physically - claims she has always
denied.
Having dropped out of school aged 17, Eminem quickly
branched into hip-hop music, expressing his feelings through often
controversial lyrics.
At that time rappers tended to be black, and
Eminem made a name for himself by determinedly entering into rap
battles in the Detroit rap scene nonetheless.
This early fame was documented in the star's film 8 Mile back
in 2002, showing him slowly gaining respect from his peers for his
skill.
He told CNN's Cooper: "I finally found something that yeah,
this kid over here, you know, he may have more chicks, and he may, you
know, have better clothes, or whatever, but he can't do this like me.
You know what I mean?"
He soon became known as M&M - a play on his initials - which was later made into Eminem.
He
began dating Kim Scott in 1995, at the start of his career, and they
had a daughter together - Hailie Jade Scott, which inspired the star to
release his first album Infinite a year later.
It failed to take
off, but a year later he released The Slim Shady EP, which was
discovered by Dr. Dre, and paved the way to worldwide fame.
His hit My Name Is is still closely associated with Eminem's
breakthrough now, but was largely seen as shocking at the time for the
huge use of foul-mouthed language and flashes of violence.
Kim and
Marshall married that same year, in 1997, but divorced just three years
later after a rocky marriage - briefly re-marrying in 2006 for all of a
few months.
From then it was jumps and jumps to success, with his
second album The Marshall Mathers LP being released in 2000, selling
more than 19million copies.
He also won the Grammy for Best Rap Album, and it was seen as one of the peaks of the musician's career.
Taking
a brief stint away from solo success, Eminem joined pals from the old
rap scene to form group D12 in 2001, but it never matched his own name.
However just a year later saw the star descend into drug addiction, as he filmed his well known film 8 Mile.
Becoming addicted to prescription drugs after a lack of sleep, the
star took three years out of music to battle the addiction to drugs and
alcohol.
He
admitted his addiction to prescription drugs such as Vicodin, Xanax and
Valium became so overwhelming his organs began shutting down.
In the movie he admits he “thought [he] could control” his drug habit since he wasn’t “shooting heroin” or “smoking crack.”
The
controversial star, real name Marshall Mathers, revealed: “I don't know
what point exactly it started to be a problem, I just remember liking
it more and more.
“Had I got to the hospital about two hours later, I would have died.
“My organs were shutting down. My liver, kidneys, everything.
“They were gonna have to put me on dialysis, they didn’t think I was gonna make it.”
Getty
Despite a brief relapse, the star returned to music in 2008
and released albums Relapse and Recovery - each soaring once again to
the huge numbers.
Since then he has performed alongside huge stars
including Rihanna, and made another comeback recently when the pair
appeared on stage together at the MTV Movie Awards with their hit
together, Monster.
They wowed the audience with the poptastic rap track inside the ceremony at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles.
It was a moment of pure brilliance in a night of fairly low-key events.
But
now he's appeared looking so different, it's sparked worries his years
of drug abuse may have had a lasting affect, as he continues to stay
clean in the limelight.
See his rise to fame in pictures here:
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