Peak
51
Weeks
15
Score
919
Chart Year
2000
The English language needed a word for an obsessive fan, and Eminem delivered one in 2000 with "Stan," which was added to the Oxford American Dictionary in 2017, defined as "An overzealous or obsessive fan of a particular celebrity." It can be used as a noun ("He's a total stan for Beyoncé") or a verb ("When I was a teenager, I stanned Justin Bieber"). This song is listed as the origin of the word. "Stan" - the song - tells the story of a fan obsessed with Eminem. When his letters are not answered, he gets more and more agitated until he finally snaps, putting his pregnant girlfriend in his trunk and driving off a bridge. The song ends with Eminem finally writing him back, but it's too late: As Eminem is finishing his letter, he realizes Stan was the man in the news story who drove off the bridge. The song's hook is a sample of "Thank You," a track from the British singer-songwriter Dido that first appeared in the 1998 Gwyneth Paltrow movie Sliding Doors, then on her 1999 debut album, No Angel. Dido's song is about the guy who turned her topsy turvy in love, helping her escape a long depression. "Stan" uses the entire first verse, including the very British opening line: My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I got out of bed alone Dido gets out of her funk by seeing a picture of her guy and looking forward to seeing him again. Stan, though, has a picture of Eminem that keeps him going - a very unhealthy relationship. Eminem talked about the character Stan in Rolling Stone magazine's Top 500 Songs: "He's crazy for real, and he thinks I'm crazy, but I try to help him at the end of the song. It kinda shows the real side of me." The song's producer, Mark "The 45" King, found the Dido song and incorporated the sample into the track. He played it for Eminem, who gave his stamp of approval, and they produced the song before asking permission. Dido got a letter out of the blue with a demo so she could hear how they used her song, and she was thrilled. Dido enthusiastically granted permission, and because her sample is so important to the song, was given a songwriting credit along with her co-writer Paul Herman. "Stan" was the third single from Eminem's second major-label album, The Marshall Mathers LP, following "The Real Slim Shady" and "The Way I Am." He did indeed have some very fervent fans, the kind he rapped about in "The Real Slim Shady" who "dress like me, walk, talk and act like me." After "Stan," he had a lot more; the album sold over 10 million copies just in America. Report this ad The music video stars Devon Sawa as Stan and Dido as his pregnant wife. We see him take on Eminem's look as his wife tries unsuccessfully to snap him into reality. He goes into his basement, a shrine to Eminem, and scribbles out his letters. The rest of the video plays out with the lyrics, as Stan drives off the bridge. Eminem's mentor, Dr. Dre, directed the video along with Philip Atwell, who shot Eminem's "My Name Is." The song runs 5:26, but the video is longer because of added dialogue, running 6:04. There's also an 8-minute version with additional scenes. As for Devon Sawa, he really was a huge Eminem fan. He played the human version of Casper in the 1995 movie and was also in the 1999 film Idle Hands. Eminem performed this with Dido on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live on October 7, 2000. She also joined him on some of his tour dates. Dido went up a few rungs of celebrity thanks to this song. She was a third-stage artist on the Lilith Fair in 1999 and was gradually making inroads with her album No Angel, which had sold about 200,000 copies by the time it was used in "Stan" about 18 months after its release. She was signed to Arista Records, which helped her seize the opportunity. "Thank You" was released as a single and went to #3 in the US in April 2001. She went on a headline tour, made the rounds on talk shows, and watched as album sales took off, reaching 4 million in the US. The "Stan" bump also broke her in her native UK, where the song was huge. No Angel sold an amazing 3 million copies there to become the biggest debut by a solo female artist. Dido's next album, released in 2003, contained the hit "White Flag" and sold well. After six years of touring, she stopped in 2005 and took it easy for a while, releasing an album every few years and also starting a family. In his last letter, Stan writes how he is like the drowning man in the Phil Collins song "In The Air Tonight." The rumor, which is not true, is that Collins saw a man watch another man drown, then sang the song to him at a concert to let him know he knew. In America, "Stan" was just a modest hit, with a surprisingly low chart position of #51, in part because most radio stations didn't want a five-and-a-half minute song about a guy who drives his pregnant wife off a bridge on the air. But in the UK, which gave Eminem a lot more love early on, it was his second chart-topper, following "The Real Slim Shady." He didn't top the American Hot 100 until 2002 with "Lose Yourself." Eminem performed this at the 2001 Grammys with Elton John playing piano and singing the Dido part. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) took umbrage, claiming Eminem promoted hatred with the line where Stan writes, "We could have been together" and Eminem replies, "That's the kind of thing that makes me think we shouldn't meet each other." Elton John didn't have a problem with it and came to Eminem's defense. The two became friends. Eminem's Grammy performance with Elton John quickly became a very popular download on Napster, the file sharing service that toed a legal boundary. The producers of the Grammy Awards sued Napster in response, claiming they couldn't sell the performance as a single if everyone could just get it for free. The performance was eventually released as a single, with some of the proceeds going to charity. Dido met Eminem for the first time the day before the video shoot, and got on quite well with the controversial rapper. "People confuse him with the characters in his songs," she told The Guardian. "It's like Stephen King. He does some scary s--t, and it's warped beyond belief. But it's not real. I got close enough to Eminem to know that he's not misogynist or homophobic." The music video reveals the title character's name via his tombstone: Stanley Mitchell. >> In this song, Stan says, "I drank a fifth of vodka, dare me to drive?" This line comes from Eminem's song "My Name Is." >> At the end of the video, after Eminem realizes he is writing to the Stan who killed himself, lightning flashes and in the window beside him you can see Stan staring in at Eminem. >> The song structure and storyline of "Stan" seems to be based on "Fans" by Malcolm McLaren from 1984, which includes an opera aria excerpt instead of a Dido song and tells the tale of an obsessed fan with spoken word rather than a rap. >> Dido's first child was born at the private Portman Hospital in London in July 2011. So why are we telling you this? Because she named him Stanley. The Guardian asked the singer if it was in tribute to this track, which kickstarted her career. Dido said it wasn't, it just happened to have always been her favorite name. She added: "I don't mind people thinking that anyway because it was such a great period in my life." Eminem revisited this song on the Marshall Mathers LP 2 track "Bad Guy," where Stan's vengeful little brother, Matthew, kidnaps the rapper in retaliation for destroying his sibling's life. The original version of the third verse was deleted because the engineer was stoned. "When we recorded 'Stan' I worked with a couple different engineers but this particular engineer I had never worked with before," Eminem wrote on Genius. "While we were recording the third verse of 'Stan,' he started rolling a joint and asked me if I minded if he smoked while we cut. What was I gonna do? Say no? He was already rolling it so I told him 'no problem.'" "Back then we were recording on 2-inch tape, so once you recorded over something it's gone forever," he continued. "So I'm in the booth waiting and he backs the tape up all the way to the beginning of the verse and punches me in. I realize he's in the wrong spot and I can't hear any of my vocals so I start waving my arms and yelling in the mic to try to get his attention. He doesn't notice so I run into the control room through a cloud of smoke and yell 'Yo, I wanted to keep those vocals' he just looked at me and said 'My bad man... you wanna hit this?' The first half of the verse was GONE. I re-recorded it but you should have heard the original take that s--t was WAY better... oh well!" On December 5, 2020, Saturday Night Live spoofed this song in a skit where a basement-dweller named "Stu" (played by Pete Davidson) writes increasingly disturbing letters to Santa asking for a Playstation 5. At the end of the skit, Eminem appears on Christmas morning unwrapping a PS5. It took a while for Eminem to realize he was famous. Even after his first major-label album, The Slim Shady LP, took off, he was surprised when fans adulated him. These interactions led to this song. "I wasn't sure before then if this was a one-time thing, but I had people knocking on the door and I realized that it was getting crazy," he told XXL. "It inspired songs like 'Stan' because to have fans is a dream come true, but it's also so bizarre and so surreal."
My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I Got out of bed at all The morning rain clouds up my window And I can't see at all And even if I could it'll all be gray But your picture on my wall It reminds me, that it's not so bad It's not so bad My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I Got out of bed at all The morning rain clouds up my window (window) And I can't see at all And even if I could it'll all be gray But your picture on my wall It reminds me, that it's not so bad It's not so bad Dear Slim, I wrote you but you still ain't callin' I left my cell, my pager, and my home phone at the bottom I sent two letters back in autumn, you must not've got 'em There probably was a problem at the post office or somethin' Sometimes I scribble addresses too sloppy when I jot 'em But anyways, f- it, what's been up, man? How's your daughter? My girlfriend's pregnant too, I'm 'bout to be a father If I have a daughter, guess what I'ma call her? I'ma name her Bonnie I read about your uncle Ronnie too, I'm sorry I had a friend kill himself over some b- who didn't want him I know you probably hear this every day, but I'm your biggest fan I even got the underground sh- that you did with Skam I got a room full of your posters and your pictures, man I like the sh- you did with Rawkus too, that sh- was phat Anyways, I hope you get this, man, hit me back Just to chat, truly yours, your biggest fan This is Stan My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I Got out of bed at all The morning rain clouds up my window (window) And I can't see at all And even if I could it'll all be gray But your picture on my wall It reminds me, that it's not so bad It's not so bad Dear Slim, you still ain't called or wrote, I hope you have a chance I ain't mad, I just think it's f- up you don't answer fans If you didn't wanna talk to me outside your concert You didn't have to, but you could've signed an autograph for Matthew That's my little brother, man, he's only six years old We waited in the blistering cold for you For four hours and you just said, "No" That's pretty sh-, man, you're like his f-in' idol He wants to be just like you, man, he likes you more than I do Sometimes I even cut myself to see how much it bleeds It's like adrenaline, the pain is such a sudden rush for me See, everything you say is real, and I respect you 'cause you tell it My girlfriend's jealous 'cause I talk about you 24/7 But she don't know you like I know you Slim, no one does She don't know what it was like for people like us growin' up, You gotta call me, man, I'll be the biggest fan you'll ever lose Sincerely yours, Stan P.S. we should be together too My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I Got out of bed at all The morning rain clouds up my window (window) And I can't see at all And even if I could it'll all be gray But your picture on my wall It reminds me, that it's not so bad It's not so bad Dear Mr. I'm Too Good To Call Or Write My Fans This will be the last package I ever send your a- It's been six months and still no word, I don't deserve it? I know you got my last two letters, I wrote the addresses on 'em perfect So this is my cassette I'm sending you, I hope you hear it I'm in the car right now, I'm doing ninety on the freeway I love you Slim, we coulda been together, think about it You ruined it now, I hope you can't sleep and you dream about it And when you dream, I hope you can't sleep and you scream about it I hope your conscience eats at you and you can't breathe without me See Slim, shut up b-, I'm tryna talk Hey Slim, that's my girlfriend screamin' in the trunk But I didn't slit her throat, I just tied her up, see I ain't like you 'Cause if she suffocates, she'll suffer more, and then she'll die too Well, gotta go, I'm almost at the bridge now Oh sh-, I forgot, how am I supposed to send this sh- out? Dear Stan, I meant to write you sooner but I just been busy You said your girlfriend's pregnant now, how far along is she? Look, I'm really flattered you would call your daughter that And here's an autograph for your brother, I wrote it on a Starter cap I'm sorry I didn't see you at the show, I must've missed you Don't think I did that sh- intentionally just to diss you But what's this sh- you said about you like to cut your wrists too? I say that sh- just clownin', dawg, come on, how f-ed up is you? You got some issues, Stan, I think you need some counseling To help your a- from bouncing off the walls when you get down some And what's this sh- about us meant to be together? That type of sh-'ll make me not want us to meet each other I really think you and your girlfriend need each other Or maybe you just need to treat her better I hope you get to read this letter, I just hope it reaches you in time Before you hurt yourself, I think that you'll be doin' just fine If you relax a little, I'm glad I inspire you but Stan Why are you so mad? Try to understand that I do want you as a fan I just don't want you to do some crazy sh- I seen this one sh- on the news a couple weeks ago that made me sick Some dude was drunk and drove his car over a bridge And had his girlfriend in the trunk, and she was pregnant with his kid And in the car they found a tape, but they didn't say who it was to Come to think about, his name was, it was you Damn
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 4, 2000 | 78 | 48 |
| 2 | Nov 11, 2000 | 67 | 59 |
| 3 | Nov 18, 2000 | 57 | 69 |
| 4 | Nov 25, 2000 | 57 | 69 |
| 5 | Dec 2, 2000 | 51 | 75 |
| 6 | Dec 9, 2000 | 51 | 75 |
| 7 | Dec 16, 2000 | 51 | 75 |
| 8 | Dec 23, 2000 | 57 | 69 |
| 9 | Dec 30, 2000 | 55 | 71 |
| 10 | Jan 6, 2001 | 70 | 56 |
| 11 | Jan 13, 2001 | 69 | 57 |
| 12 | Jan 20, 2001 | 77 | 49 |
| 13 | Jan 27, 2001 | 88 | 38 |
| 14 | Feb 3, 2001 | 93 | 33 |
| 15 | Feb 10, 2001 | 100 | 26 |