Eminem, whose new album is expected to top the U.S. pop chart next week, made a rare appearance at a music-industry bash on Friday to honor Dr. Dre, the hip-hop pioneer who made him a superstar.
Dr. Dre received the Founders Award for career achievement during performing rights group ASCAP’s annual Rhythm & Soul Music Awards ceremony at a Beverly Hills hotel. Dr. Dre rose to fame in the 1980s as a member of rap group N.W.A. before going solo and launching Death Row Records. He also shepherded the careers not only of Eminem, but also 2Pac, Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent, and produced recordings for artists as diverse as Gwen Stefani and Mary J. Blige.
“He believed in me when not many others did,” Eminem told the audience. “It would have been a lot easier for Dre to dismiss me like most people did: What’s with the white guy from Detroit that raps with a funny voice? But he didn’t. He stepped up to the challenge because he saw something in me.”
Dr. Dre signed Eminem to his Aftermath Entertainment label in 1998, and his protege is set to score his sixth consecutive U.S. No. 1 album next week with “Recovery.” Eminem generally avoids big showbiz events, preferring the seclusion of his Detroit home. He did not even show up at the Academy Awards in 2003 to collect his Oscar for best song.
For his part, during a speech filled with pauses as he fought back tears, Dr. Dre said he was “living an incredible life,” and paid tribute to his mother, who got pregnant with him when she was 15.
“She was always told by family, friends and neighbors or whatever she was going to ruin her life and mine,” he said.
