"When I'm Gone" is a song by American rapper Eminem from his first greatest hits 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 mixed to negative reviews from music critics. The song charted at number eight on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number 22 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart, number four on the UK Singles Chart and on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, the latter being the only country where it peaked at number one. Background “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." 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. Critical reception AllMusic wrote a mixed to positive overview: "There's the closing "When I'm Gone," a sentimental chapter in the Eminem domestic psychodrama that bears the unmistakable suggestion that Em is going away for a while. While it's not up to the standard of "Mockingbird," it is more fully realized than the two other new cuts here..." Pitchfork considered: "When I'm Gone" is an all desolate placeholder—lesser version of Eminem songs that already piss me off. "Gone" is the worst offender, yet another love letter from Em to daughter Hailie, it, like Encore's "Mockingbird", is heavy-handed and saccharine." IGN also panned the single: "The latter, however, is another prime example of the beat dragging Eminem down. The sluggish, lumbering bump causes his lyrics to stumble and sound forced in their delivery. The heartfelt storyline would have been better served drenched in some warm, fuzzy, but ultimately mournful soul instead." NME called this song disappointing. Sputnik Music wrote a mixed review: "Eminem