Mouths were on the floor as a surprise appearance from Eminem at the Academy Awards shocked both those in attendance at the Oscars ceremony and the at-home viewers. The Detroit rapper emerged onstage as the opening of “Lose Yourself” began to carry out. He delivered a performance that caused many reactions on social media and on the faces of the celebrities in the crowd.
It has been 17 years since his song “Lose Yourself” took home an Oscar for best original song in 2003 in the movie, 8 Mile.
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Eminem put out a tweet fairly quickly after his surprise.
Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity… Thanks for having me @TheAcademy. Sorry it took me 18 years to get here. pic.twitter.com/CmSw2hmcZo
โ Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) February 10, 2020
His win was a historical one as he became the first rapper to win an Academy Award. He was not in attendance to accept the award back in 2003, which is what he was alluding to in his tweet.
Eminem won Best Original Song for โLose Yourselfโ 17 years ago at the #Oscars but was at home watching cartoons with his daughter when he won the award. Tonight, he performed the song live at the Academy Awards. pic.twitter.com/lrTe5DkpNn
โ ู (@coldestonthemic) February 10, 2020
“Lose Yourself” exploded onto the scene, and both Eminem and producer/songwriter Jeff Bass, had a feeling something was different about the work they had done on it. Bass spoke with Billboard two years ago where he reflected on the process of putting together the track.
“The only thing that we noticed, honestly, is that the track felt so good,” he said. “We didn’t know why it felt so good, but it was something that felt good to us. It wasn’t until he got the script for the movie [8 Mile] where he came up with the lyrics and everything. It just came together. But something about the mode of the music really touched us. We kept pulling it out of the computer every so often to revisit it, to see if it could spark anything in us. We loved the track.”
Eminem is fresh off a new album release, “Music to be Murdered By.” His 11th studio album debuted on Jan. 17.
He made his premiere back 1996 with “Infinite.” He had a four-year gap between his eighth and ninth albums before releasing “Revival” in 2017 followed by Kamikaze the following year.
