Eminem is 16 years sober.
On Saturday, the Detroit rapper took to social media to celebrate the anniversary by sharing a picture of a new sobriety chip.
— Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) April 20, 2024
Back in 2022, Eminem opened up about his past addiction and eventual recovery in an essay published by XXL. According to the “Lose Yourself” rapper, he started taking pills following the release of 1999's The Slim Shady LP. Five years later, things took a turn for the worse after Em dropped another No. 1 album, 2002's The Eminem Show, and had begun working on what would become 2004's Encore.
“I was able to downplay my addiction and hide it for a while until it got really bad,” he explained. “So, I’m coming off The Marshall Mathers LP and going into Encore when my addiction started to get bad. I was taking Vicodin, Valium, and alcohol. I kinda fell off the map a little bit and didn’t explain why I went away.”
From there, Eminem's addiction worsened after D12’s Proof died in 2006.
“I remember just after Proof died, I was in my house by myself, and I was just laying in bed and I couldn’t move and I just kept staring at the ceiling fan,” he recalled. “And I just kept taking more pills. I literally couldn’t walk for two days when that happened and eventually my drug use fuckin’ skyrocketed. I had fuckin’ 10 drug dealers at one time that I’m getting my shit from. Seventy-five to 80 Valiums a night, which is a lot. I don’t know how the fuckI’m still here. I was numbing myself.”
A near-death experience from an accidental methadone overdose back in 2007 ultimately led Eminem to get sober for good.
This article was originally published on Complex.com.
