Eminem, real name Marshall Bruce Mathers is celebrating 12 years of sobriety.
The iconic American rapper has come a long way following his struggles with drugs and alcohol. He is now clean and living his best life.
Taking to Twitter to announce the achievement, he wrote: “Clean dozen, in the books! I’m not afraid.”
Last year, the “Lose Yourself” rapper posted a similar message to his Instagram account marking 11 years of sobriety. He captioned the photo, “11 years – still not afraid.”
Eminem started his journey to fight his addiction against prescription pills like Vicodin, Valium and Ambien in 2008. Two years later, he dropped his seventh studio album, Recovery. The introspective album marked the beginning of the next phase in his life.
The artiste has been open about his battles with addiction in the past. He revealed he was once taking up to 30 Vicodin (an opioid that treats severe pain) a day; as well as ‘anywhere from 40 to 60 Valium’ (a benzodiazepine that can help people be calm).
During the documentary How To Make Money Selling Drugs, Eminem said: “I don’t know at what point exactly it started to be a problem. I just remember liking it more and more.”
The 47-year-old explained how he didn’t believe taking prescription pills put him in the category of being an addict.
He added: “People tried to tell me that I had a problem. I would say, ‘Get that f***ing person outta here.’ I’m not out there shooting heroin. I’m not out there f***ing putting coke up my nose. I’m not smoking crack.”
The rapper developed insomnia in the early ’00s during the production of 8 Mile when he was working 16 hour days.
A friend introduced him to Ambien (a medication used to help people sleep), which acted as a gateway to other prescription pills.
Eminem hit rock bottom in 2007 when he overdosed on methadone – an opioid used to help wean people off other opioids like heroin.
Speaking to MTV about the horrific experience, he said: “The doctors told me I’d done the equivalent of four bags of heroin… Had I got to the hospital about two hours later, I would have died.
“My organs were shutting down. My liver, kidneys, everything.
“They were gonna have to put me on dialysis. They didn’t think I was gonna make it. My bottom was gonna be death.”
He vowed never to touch drugs again, however found the road to recovery difficult.
Eminem relapsed, however quickly quit the drugs after looking at his kids and realising he wanted to be around for when they grew up.
He set himself on a grueling detox programme that has helped him get to where he is today. Elton John became his mentor and would check in on him once or twice a week to ensure he was on the straight and narrow.