Eminem's manager debunked popular theory about rapper's hit song 'Stan'
Paul Rosenberg shared his thoughts on Eminem's hit song 'Stan', which was released 26 years ago next month.
Arguably 'Stan' is one of the rapper's best known songs and helped him on his way to his current worldwide stardom.
It was part of his third studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP, and samples British singer Dido's song 'Thank You'.
While it only peaked at number 51 in the Billboard Hot 100, 26 years later it's still a fan-favorite.
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There's long been a theory about the song and it's well-known music video: that Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers) chose the name 'Stan' for his crazed fan that's depicted in the video and song is an amalgamation of 'stalker' and 'fan'.
Rosenberg, who signed Eminem in 1997, has since addressed this and called it a 'happy coincidence'.
Speaking to The Independent last year, Rosenberg shared: "[Mathers] says that it was coincidental. It was just the name that rhymed with 'fan', and he just created it based on that. So that was a happy coincidence."
Rosenberg went on to discuss the huge impact 'Stan' has had over the years and admitted that he didn't know just how monumental it would end up becoming.
"I didn't realise at the time how impactful 'Stan' was going to be, and certainly didn't think 25 years later we'd be sitting here talking about a film we made based on the song," Rosenberg said at the time.
"When I first heard it, I felt like one of the most interesting things about it – especially back then in the pre-internet days, was [thinking that] people would for years question whether this was a real story, or parts of a real story."
The rapper's longtime manager chatted with the news outlet last year ahead of the release of the Eminem-focused documentary, Stans.
Check out the trailer here:
The program included interviews with self-proclaimed superfans of Eminem's and how his music career has impacted them.
While it's long been known that the 'Love The Way You Like' hitmaker has a massive fanbase, Rosenberg said he didn't realise just how much impact Eminem has had on people.
"I didn't expect it to be quite as heavy and emotional,” he said of Stans. "I probably could have anticipated that, but I thought we would get some interesting stories from some interesting people… and it [turned out to be] stories about the impact that his music had on them, in a profound and deep way.
"I think it made the film have more depth than I anticipated, and that I think the audience is going to expect."
Stans is currently available to stream on Paramount+.
Niamh Shackleton