Detroit rapper Eminem celebrated a significant milestone on Saturday as he marked 16 years of sobriety.
Taking to social media, the renowned artist shared a photo of a new sobriety chip, symbolizing his journey towards recovery.
Eminem opened up about his battle and eventual triumph over substance abuse in an essay published by XXL back in 2022.
He revealed that his addiction began with pills following the release of his 1999 album “The Slim Shady LP.”
However, it was during the period after dropping another chart-topping album, “The Eminem Show,” in 2002, and while working on “Encore” in 2004, that his addiction escalated.
“I was able to downplay my addiction and hide it for a while until it got really bad,” Eminem shared.
“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.”
The tragic loss of fellow rapper D12’s Proof in 2006 further exacerbated Eminem’s addiction, leading to a harrowing near-death experience from an accidental methadone overdose in 2007.
Eminem described a moment of helplessness where he found himself immobilized and consumed by his dependency.
“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 recounted. “And I just kept taking more pills.”
