"When I'm Gone" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his first greatest hits compilation album Curtain Call: The Hits (2005). It was released on December 6, 2005, the same day as the album was released, as the lead single.
"When I'm Gone" received mostly positive reviews from music critics. The song charted at number eight on the United States Billboard Hot 100,[1] number 22 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart,[1] number four on the UK Singles Chart[2] and on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, the latter being the only country where it peaked at number one.[3]
“When I’m Gone” was written in 2003 and released in 2005 by Shady Records, on the album Curtain Call: The Hits. It was thought at the time that this album would mark the beginning of an extended musical hiatus for Eminem, who had said "I'm at a point in my life right now where I feel like I don't know where my career is going...This is the reason that we called it Curtain Call, because this could be the final thing. We don't know."[4]
The song's lyrics pertain to Eminem's life as a celebrity musician interfering with his family. Eminem uses imagery to evoke a feeling of sadness about his family falling apart.
The music video for the song was directed by Anthony Mandler. Tarick Salmaci, from the TV show The Contender, makes an appearance in the video with his wife.