On Saturday, Eminem performed a six-song set in honor of being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which included unexpected cameos from Steven Tyler and Ed Sheeran.
“My Name Is,” “Rap God,” “Forever,” and “Not Afraid” were among Marshall Mathers’ top singles. On “Sing for the Moment” and “Stan,” he also collaborated with Tyler from Aerosmith.
Eminem was introduced by his mentor, Dr. Dre, who spoke of the Detroit rapper’s “undeniable gift.” “His raw, dark, and humorous lyrics coupled with an impeccable cadence stood out from anything I had ever heard before, and he was hungry,” Dr. Dre said of Eminem. “Both of us were. We were two artists in do-or-die situations: he was desperate to find a way to feed his family and I was searching for something to sink my teeth into creatively. Each of us was exactly what the other needed and I was willing to bet my entire career on it.”
“Eminem was able to hold up a mirror to White America while also expressing the pain of living through poverty in dysfunctional families devoid of hope,” Dr. Dre continued. “Eminem brought hip-hop to middle America and offered kids who looked like him a way to connect to it.”
During his own acceptance speech, Eminem commented that, “I’m probably not supposed to actually be here tonight because of a couple of reasons. One of them that I’m a rapper, and this is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And there’s only a few of us right now that have been inducted in already, but there’s only a few of us. Secondly, I almost died from an overdose in 2007, which kind of sucked.”
“And finally, I had to really fight my way through man to try and break through in this music, and I’m so honored and I’m so grateful that I’m even able to be up here doing hip-hip music, man, because I love it so much,” Eminem added.