On Eminem's 40th Birthday: Well Wishes And A Look Back

Eminem celebrates his 40th birthday on October 17--and it seems like just yesterday he was turning pop culture upside down with his singles like "The Real Slim Shady," threatening boy bands, Britney Spears...you name it. Slaughterhouse's Joell Ortiz wished his Shady Records boss a happy birthday on Twitter, writing, "Happy Birthday @Eminem !!! Many more big bro. #Yaowa" and fans picked up where he left off. More birthday wishes below, plus a look back at Em's achievements in the past year.



To kick off his days as a 39-year old MC, Eminem was tapped by GQ magazine as one of their "God Of Rock" picks along with fellow rapper Lil Wayne and rock legend Keith Richards. Em followed that up with an animated guest appearance at 50 Cent's SXSW set, and then he got back to producing and mixing Slaughterhouse's debut album, Welcome to: Our House.

In May, Em helped 50 Cent to recover from a quick hospital visit with some encouraging words. "Yo Fif, you were shot nine times man. If you die over a burger, this sh-- ain't gonna go right. People ain't gonna be feelin' this," Fif told MTV News, relaying his mentor's message. A few months later, the partners-in-crime appeared together in the Adrian Grenier-produced documentary "How To Make Money Selling Drugs," which debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in September.

Additionally, Em was a major part of Ice T's recent documentary, "The Art of Rap," in which the legendary MC detailed his unusually methodical approach to crafting the rhymes that have made him one of the top-selling artists of all time, in any genre of music. Last month, decorated producer No I.D. revealed that he was working with the reclusive rapper on new music that might appear on his upcoming eighth solo album and fans were treated to another stellar Em 16 on Pink's new track, "Here Comes the Weekend."

Capping off his year, Marshall covered Vibe magazine to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the movie, "8 Mile," a semi-autobiographical film that showed the rapper's acting chops, depicting a struggling rapper in Detroit balancing a dysfunctional home and his dreams of making it big in the rap game.