Trivia
- At the 43rd Annual Grammy Awards, Eminem won Best Rap Solo Performance for “The Real Slim Shady,” Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for “Forgot About Dre,” and Best Rap Album for The Marshall Mathers LP.
- Although he lost Album of the Year to Steely Dan’s Two Against Nature, Eminem was clearly the evening’s main focus.
- This controversial duet with was saved for the show’s finale and heavily promoted during commercial breaks, while protesters from gay and women’s advocacy groups picketed Eminem outside, countered by a few pro-Eminem demonstrators.
- This live performance was issued to radio on February 22, 2001, as a promotional single, the day after it was recorded.
Words from Elton John and Eminem
“He was accused of being homophobic by so many people because of his lyrics, which I thought was nonsense. I came out and supported the fact that he isn’t, and I appeared on the Grammys with him doing “Stan” instead of Dido, and we became friends. We’ve been amazing friends ever since. He’s an amazing guy. I spoke to him last week; I interviewed him last week for a magazine, and I just adore him. When David and I did our civil partnership, I got this package from Eminem, and it shows you how homophobic he isn’t. We had two diamond-encrusted cock rings on velvet cushions. I have to say they have remained unused.
“The Grammys, I always thought they were bullshit. The first year, I didn’t go because Dre kind of told me what the Grammys were, and I didn’t understand it. I was like, “Why do they have a separate category for Rap?” Then there’s Best Album, and you’ll find Rock and Country albums in the same category, but Rap has its own separate category. Why is that? So the next year, when they asked me to come to the Grammys, I was like, “There’s no way I’m going to the Grammys. There’s no reason for me to go.” And then when Elton John was saying all that stuff about me in the press, I was like, “Okay, well, you know what?” I told Jimmy Iovine at Interscope, “The only way I’m going to go to the Grammys is if I get to perform with Elton John. If you get me Elton John, I’ll do it.” And I thought that it was such a long shot that it wasn’t going to happen, but he made the phone call and it happened.