Life and career – Early life. Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, , in St. Joseph, Missouri, the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. and Deborah Rae "Debbie" Nelson. His mother nearly died during her hour labor with him. Eminem's parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns . This has to be one of my favorite Hip-Hop albums I own. Of all the rap I've listened to, I feel like this is Eminem in his prime. The aggression and flow sync perfectly together to create one of the greatest albums I've heard. The Marshall Mathers LP 2 was Eminem's seventh album to debut atop the Billboard , and had the year's second-largest first-week sales. He was the Labels: Aftermath, Shady, Interscope, Bassmint, Mashin' Duck, Web.