Trivia

• “Beautiful” was released as the album’s fifth single on July 3, 2009, following “Crack A Bottle,” “We Made You,” “3 a.m.,” and “Old Time’s Sake.” It peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
• The song is the only track on the album not produced by Dr. Dre and the only one originating from the album’s earlier recording sessions, before Dre stepped in to oversee production.
• The track marked the final collaboration between Eminem and Jeff Bass, who had worked together since the very beginning of Eminem’s career. Together, they created some of Eminem’s most celebrated songs, including “Lose Yourself,” “Without Me,” and “Just Don’t Give a Fuck.”
• The song samples a live recording by Queen + Paul Rodgers. Ironically, the performance — used as the show’s opener during the band’s tour in Japan — was preceded by the group playing chords over Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” during their stage intro.

Words from Eminem and Jeff Bass

“

That song is the only one out of a whole batch of songs — probably three or four albums’ worth of material — that I recorded in the time I was [in hiatus]. I did all of that when I wasn’t sober and that is literally the only song that’s on this record. [...] It’s the only one I could actually listen to and feel OK about.

It brings me back to a time when I was really depressed and down, but at the same time it reminds me of what that space is like and what never to go back to. There is a lot of honesty in that song that I wouldn’t want to just throw away.

I started writing the first verse and half of the second when I was in rehab going through detox. [...] I was sitting on the end of the bed, not fully committed to it and not fully detoxed. They give you medicine to make your detox not as rough. I wrote it during that period — the first two days.

I was sitting there not knowing where I wanted to be in my career. I didn’t even know if I wanted a career any more, because this shit was too much. It just wasn’t worth it. [...] I didn’t have a beat in my head or anything like that. I wrote the verse and just knew I wanted it to be a bounce-style, I guess.

I got that first bit out and finished it when I got out of rehab, when I relapsed right back into taking pills. If you listen to that song and how it starts off, I’m just so fucking depressed.

“

One of the songs that Eminem chose to use from the period when he was intoxicated — those days that we were wasted in the studio — was “Beautiful.” You could tell in his voice — if you’re a fan of Eminem, you can tell in his voice something’s wrong. Listen to “Beautiful,” listen to the tone of his voice, and there’s a sadness to it.

So that was the last song that was a collaboration between him and I, and it’s sad, but it is what it is, and you know, people [part ways]. Technically I was only supposed to do one album with him, and I ended up like seven albums in because we had a connection, we had a chemistry — you know, we loved each other enough to do what we did.

It was a piece of time in the history of music that, you know, I have that connection with him and the fans can connect to [it]. There was a sound that him and I did — it was what we called “clap” — classical [and] rap joined together with his brilliant lyrics. It was the perfect fit.

For me, I feel blessed that I was a part of that movement, that whole Eminem movement from the very beginning.