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50 Cent Timeline

Born Curtis James Jackson III in Queens, New York.

He is arrested on felony drug charges for selling cocaine to an undercover NYPD officer.

Is arrested when police searching his home find heroin and crack, drug packaging material, and a starter gun. He spends seven months in a youth "shock incarceration" boot camp.

His girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins gives birth to their son, Marquise Jackson.

Signs with Columbia Records.

His parole term comes to an end.

Releases his debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin'.

Interscope Records gives him his own label, G-Unit Records.

Get Rich or Die Tryin' is certified seven times platinum by the RIAA.

Appears on an episode of the Simpsons entitled, "Pranksta Rap."

Releases the album The Massacre. The song's first single, "Candy Shop," becomes a massive hit. The second single, "Just A Lil' Bit," goes to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Publishes his memoir, From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens.

The film Get Rich or Die Tryin' is released. It is a semi-autobiographical account of his life. That night, 30-year-old Shelton Flowers is shot to death after an argument with another man near the concession stand inside a Loews multiplex in Homestead, Pennsylvania after a showing of the movie.

On ABC's The View, 50 Cent speaks about the shooting: "I feel for the victim's family in this situation. But you know, these weren't kids. This was a 30-year-old man [who] had a dispute with three other guys."

Stars in the film Home of the Brave, a film about a soldier who is traumatized by his experiences in the Iraq War.

Starts a film production company called G-Unit Films.

Starts his own book imprint called G-Unit Books.

His third album, Curtis, debuts at #2 on the Billboard 200.

The mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut gives 50 Cent a key to the city and officially declares the day "50 Cent Curtis Jackson Day."

Starts a film production company called Cheetah Vision.

A fire destroys the $2.4 million dollar home his ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins lives in with their son, Marquise. Shaniqua and Marquise are treated for smoke inhalation. Officials call the fire "definitely suspicious." In recent months 50 Cent had been demanding that Shaniqua pay $4,500 in rent out of the $6,700 per month in child support he gives her or else face eviction. At a hearing about the status of the house, a judge orders Tompkins to pay 50 Cent $4,500 in rent for the month of May. The judge also orders 50 Cent to put insurance proceeds he received as a result of the fire into a trust until the legal dispute between the couple is settled. At the hearing, Shaniqua says that 50 Cent did not call her or their son after he learned about the fire and she says she and her son have nothing but the clothes they were wearing when they escaped the fire. She says, "He's not a good father. He doesn't care about his son at all."