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Eminem has reached the milestone of 18 years of sobriety celebrated with a photo of a commemorative coin on Instagram.
The 53-year-old shared the news on Instagram on Monday and received congratulations from colleagues in the industry, including Questlove, Big Sean and numerous fans. “Congrats my man! BTW, Nice t-shirt,” commented rapper and DJ D-Nice – Eminem happened to be wearing the producer’s “To Tha Rescue” shirt.
Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, has always been open about his sobriety, which followed an accidental methadone overdose in December 2007. The incident was the low point of a long history of addiction that “became a problem” when he was filming the film “8 Mile” in the early 2000s.
Eminem and addiction
“I took so many pills that I eventually stopped taking them to get high,” he told Rolling Stone in 2011. “I took them to feel normal. Not that I didn’t get high. I just had to take an absurd amount. I’d say I did somewhere between 40 and 60 Valium in a day. And Vicodin… maybe 20, 30? I don’t know. I took a lot of shit.”
His addiction continued to escalate after the death of his close friend Proof in 2006, until he finally pulled the ripcord and got clean in 2008. Eminem found a rehab counselor for weekly sessions and began running several miles a day. “I knew I had to change my life,” the Grammy winner told Rolling Stone. “Either I get help or I die.”
