The End Of An Era: Eminem Declares Alter Ego Slim Shady “Dead”
Eminem’s iconic alter ego, Slim Shady, is officially laid to rest. A fake obituary recently ran in the Detroit Free Press, declaring Slim Shady “dead” as Eminem prepares to release his 12th studio album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), this summer.
Marshall Mathers, known to the world as Eminem, first released Slim Shady in 1997. However, it was the release of The Slim Shady LP on February 23, 1999, that truly skyrocketed his career. The album’s hit single My Name Is earned Eminem his first two Grammys, marking the beginning of an illustrious journey.
Reactions to Slim Shady were mixed from the start. Eminem’s sharp lyrics and controversial themes drew both acclaim and criticism. Publications like PEOPLE and Teen PEOPLE couldn’t get enough of the star. Neighbors praised his community involvement, though they cautioned that his music wasn’t for everyone. In the summer of 2000, Teen PEOPLE even named him their “Sexiest Rapper.”
Despite backlash for his pointed lyrics targeting the gay community and celebrities like Christina Aguilera, Eminem’s fame continued to rise. The Slim Shady LP peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, cementing his place in music history.
Eminem brushed off the hate the piece of work received during a conversation with Rolling Stone in 2000, saying, “The kids listening to my music get the joke. They can tell when I’m serious and when I’m not. They can tell the entertainment of it.”
One of the most unforgettable moments in Slim Shady’s history was at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards. Eminem, fresh off the release of The Marshall Mathers LP, opened the show at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall with a hundred clones mimicking his every move to The Real Slim Shady.
“Eminem made great videos that were probably the most popular on TRL and MTV at the time. The challenge for all of us was, how do we recreate that mayhem in a live performance?” former MTV president Van Toffler said in a 2015 oral history shared with MTV.com.
Former VMAs executive producer Dave Sirulnick added that Eminem’s personality “was so big, so we knew we couldn’t do this with just five, 10, or even 20 Slim Shadys.”
“This had to be 100 Slim Shadys strong,” he continued.
Eminem initially “flipped out” when he saw the bleached blond actors at rehearsal. But Dr. Dre, who helped conceive the idea, had the best reaction, jokingly saying, “Oh my God! It’s my worst nightmare!”
He reportedly loved it, and so did Eminem. “During the show, he owned every second of that performance,” Sirulnick said. “He was as good as you will ever see a performer on television.”
The obituary for Slim Shady poignantly reads, “Ultimately, the very things that seemed to be the tools he used became calling cards that defined an existence that could only come to a sudden and horrific end. His complex and tortured existence has come to a close, and the legacy he leaves behind is no closer to resolution than the manner in which this character departed this world.”
“May he truly find the peace in an afterlife that he could not find on Earth,” the obituary added.
