[4] The 45 King was first inspired to develop a production sampling "Thank You" whilst watching the 1998 film Sliding Doors, in which the song is featured, at his home.

Eminem immediately realised the error and unsuccessfully tried to alert the engineer, but the take would be completely written over.

When revealing this anecdote to music website Genius in 2016, Eminem stated that, in his opinion, the original take was "significantly better" than the re-recorded one, expressing his disappointment that it would never be heard.

He reveals that his pregnant girlfriend is tied up in the trunk as he approaches a bridge, realizing in a panic that he has no way to send the tape to Eminem, but it is too late.

[13] The video starts with a prologue that involved Stan dyeing his hair blonde and reacting angrily to being called "Stanley" by his girlfriend.

MTV also cut out all references of Stan's girlfriend bound in the trunk of the car and removed one scene showing him guzzling vodka while driving.

In the MTV short version, which was used for radio airplay due to time constraints, the second verse lines that are missing are from "I ain't that mad though, I just don't like bein' lied to" to "I even got a tattoo of your name across the chest"; the video cuts showing Stan meeting Eminem, talking about how his father cheated and beat his mother and showed him getting a "Slim Shady" tattoo on his chest.

"Stan" was met with critical acclaim, with praise directed to the song's epistolary narrative structure, emotional range and lyrical depth.

[17] Entertainment Weekly praised the song, too: "Eminem proves himself a peerless rap poet with a profound understanding of the power of language.

It has the affecting tone of such rap high points as Ice Cube's 'It Was a Good Day' and Tupac's 'Dear Mama'.

"[20] NME magazine praised the song: "'Stan' is a wonderful short story, an astute study in extreme fandom.

"[21] Sputnik Music described that "Stan's sampling of Dido and use of rain and writing sound effects" make the album versatile.

It tells the story of an obsessive fan who kills themselves because their idol (Eminem) never writes back, and introduces one of the album's key themes – the scary power of fame.

This sample goes on to form the song's hook, relating the level of Stan's obsession and almost making him a sympathetic character (Your picture on my wall/It reminds me that it's not so bad....).

[22]IGN praised the song as "easily the most scathingly introspective rumination on fan adoration, idol assimilation, and borderline stalker etiquette.

Teamed to Dido's lulling 'Thank You' with its almost somnambulistically hypnotic pop sultriness provides a jolting contrast to the twisted storyline of a musical obsession gone awry.

"[23] Slant Magazine was mixed: "'Stan' is an interesting look into the mind of a fanatic (albeit through the eyes of an equally disturbed individual), but it's structured entirely around someone else's work (Dido's 'Thank You').

[26] Analyzing "Stan" in The Guardian, writer and literary critic Giles Foden compared Eminem to Robert Browning.

[27] At the 2001 Grammy Awards, when he was facing criticism from GLAAD over his lyrics, Eminem responded by performing "Stan" with singer-songwriter Elton John singing Dido's lines.

After Eminem released a series of NFTs as part of his "Shady Con" event with Nifty Gateway, MacDonald purchased one — an Eminem-produced instrumental called "Stan's Revenge" — for $100,000.

[31][32] "Stan" has entered the lexicon as a term for an overly obsessed fan of someone or something and is used colloquially to express fandom of all kinds.

The term is especially popular in the rap community; in "Ether", a diss track against rapper Jay-Z, Nas notably called Jay a "stan" of both himself and The Notorious B.I.G.

It was ranked number three on a list of the greatest rap songs in history by Q magazine[35] and came tenth in a similar survey conducted by Top40-Charts.com.

This track dwells on similar themes as "Stan", such as growing up without a father, feeling like an outsider, and deep emotional attachment to a rapper.

Eminem has referenced "Stan" in some of his later songs, including "River", "Walk on Water", "The Ringer",[43] "Killshot",[44] and his verse on "Calm Down" by Busta Rhymes.

Eminem's song "Bad Guy", the opening track on The Marshall Mathers LP 2, is a sequel to "Stan".

The skit also features cast members Kate McKinnon as Dido and Bowen Yang as Elton John, as well as guest host Jason Bateman as Santa Claus.