Why did Eminem perform at the Oscars? He thought his belated performance 'would be cool.'

Why, exactly, did Eminem perform at the Oscars this year?

That question was on everyone's mind when he suddenly showed up halfway through Sunday's Academy Awards for a seemingly random performance of "Lose Yourself" from 8 Mile. Eminem himself is now opening up about the performance that confused the nation, explaining to Variety it came together because he didn't perform when he won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 2003.

"I kinda figured maybe since I didn't get a chance to do it at the time, maybe it would be cool," Eminem explained, noting he literally slept through his win during the 2003 Oscars. After his performance, Eminem tweeted a clip of his win while writing, "sorry it took me 18 years to get here."

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According to Variety, the producers of the Oscars already had 8 Mile in their montage of songs in movies, and from there, they decided to ask Eminem to perform.

"I think that's pretty much how it went," Eminem confirmed in the interview. "And it was cool because we just put out an album, so we said maybe that'll make sense with the timing of the new album." He also said the idea of making it a surprise performance was presented to him and he thought, "Oh that's kinda dope, to not even announce it."

Perhaps the Oscars broadcast could have alleviated some of the confusion Sunday night by simply having someone explain the belated performance angle, just in case some audiences can't instantly recall specific details of who did and didn't perform on an awards show that aired nearly two decades ago. Still, if you thought there might be a more involved explanation as to why this particular year made sense for a random 17th anniversary celebration of the 8 Mile song in a broadcast seemingly pressed for time, think again.