Eminem Celebrates 12 Years Of Sobriety

Rapper Eminem has notched another year on his path of sobriety.

Real name Marshall Bruce Mathers III, the 47-year-old has now been sober for 12 years.

Taking to Twitter to announce the achievement, Eminem wrote: "Clean dozen, in the books! I'm not afraid."

The artist has been open about his battles with addiction in the past, revealing 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 explains 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."

PA

The artist 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.

Universal Pictures

"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 gruelling 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.

Topics: Entertainment, Celebrity, News

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

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