Eminem reveals why he performed at the Oscars 17 years after his Academy Award win

Eminem amazed the audience at the 92nd Academy Awards or Oscars 2020 with a surprise performance of his 8 Mile Hot 100 No. 1 hit, Lose Yourself. The track had won the Best Original Song award at Oscars 2003, but the artist had not been present to receive the award. Eminem's Oscars 2020 performance came after 17 years and Eminem revealed what took him so long. Read to know now.

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Eminem on why he performed at Oscars after 17 years

In an interview with a leading daily, Eminem said that he figured maybe since he did not get a chance to do it back in 2003, it would be cool to do it now. The rapper explained that back in 2003 he didn't even think he had a chance to win. He added that they had performed Lose Yourself on the Grammy stage with The Roots just a couple of weeks before the Oscars, so they did not think it was a good idea to repeat the performance. The artist stated that the younger him did not really feel that an event like Oscars was for him.

Eminem talked about his win and said that it was crazy when he found out that he had won. He mentioned that to him it shows how authentic and real an award is when you do not show up and still win. 

Also Read | Oscars 2020: Eminem Surprises Fans With 'Lose Yourself' Performance From '8 Mile'

The Rap God singer revealed that during the 2003 Oscars ceremony, he was at home looking after his daughter Hailie and he did not even watch the show. He told that Luis Resto, his keyboard player who produces records with him, went up and accepted the award and he knows people probably would not even recognise him.

He said Resto called him later but the phone kept ringing because he was trying to sleep. But then he answered and Resto was like 'Hey man, you won!' to which Eminem expressed his surprise. He stated that it was a different time and he was in a different place in his life back then.

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The Slim Shady artist pointed out that he does not know if he was disappointed to have missed it, but he was completely blown by the fact that he won. Eminem mentioned that back then he did not know that one could get an Oscar for a song. He remembered being confused about why he was even up for one. 

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However, when the Academy reached out to him this year, he accepted it partially because the performance would come shortly after the release of his new album Music To Be Murdered By. Eminem stated that they probably had four or five rehearsals, that too was not in the Dolby Theatre to keep it a secret. When asked if he enjoyed the Oscars 2020, Eminem replied that he absolutely did and mentioned that he got a hug from Salma Hayek.