He abused Valium, Vicodin, Ambien, and alcohol, sometimes taking tens of pills a night. At the height of his career, while he was producing award-winning albums, he was battling alcohol and drug addiction. But Eminem managed to get his life together and has successfully made his way through addiction recovery. The “heaviest” period of drug addiction spanned five years of his life, and he hit a rough patch after his D12 bandmate Proof died. “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,” he added.
Challenges of the Recovery Journey
It took painful reflections before clarity emerged after years of being numbed by addiction. During his time in rehab, Eminem underwent a rigorous detox program that included counseling, therapy, and other forms of support. He also embraced a new, healthier lifestyle, which included regular exercise and a more nutritious diet.
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Cyrus shared in 2022 that she’s been in recovery for her Xanax addiction since 2020. “It gave me so much structure in the time that I really needed structure, because I didn’t want to just be sitting around and stirring in my brain,” she told Rolling Stone. The now-51-year-old admitted he was able to downplay his addiction until it had gotten out of control, like when he was unable to answer questions during interviews. And it only got worse after friend and fellow rapper Proof died in 2006. Em goes on to recount one story from that time period, when he performed for BET’s 106 & Park with 50 Cent and G-Unit and was interviewed afterwards.
For help, advice or more information regarding addiction in the UK, visit the FRANK website. In the US, visit SAMHSA.
Eminem, who has been sober since 2008, previously shared that he had been addicted to Vicodin, Valium and alcohol. The “Lose Yourself” rapper has celebrated his sobriety over the years, including in 2020, which marked his 12th anniversary. “Clean dozen, in the books,” he captioned the snap of his coin at the time. Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, posted a photo on Instagram April 20 of his recovery coin with the inscription, “Unity, service and recovery.”
“He has acknowledged that he needs professional assistance to overcome his problem and will be getting help immediately.” The Parent Trap actor battled a cocaine addiction throughout the ’80s that sent him to rehab in 1990. As he later explained on Today, he grew up in the ’60s and ’70s when “there was a completely different attitude” towards the drug. In 2018, she recalled battling her addictions to sex and alcohol. “I have always been transparent about my journey with addiction,” she wrote on Instagram two weeks later.
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“And I’m allowed to be on them at some dosage because I have a prescription and then I’m also augmenting that.” While accepting the 2018 Woman of the Year Award by the Peggy Albrecht Friendly House, a residential program for women recovering from substance and alcohol abuse, Moore spoke about the “self-destructive path” that nearly derailed her career. The Valley star shared his decades-long battle with drugs in March 2025 after going to rehab. Eminem isn’t the only star to open up about their addiction and sobriety. “I remember when I first got sober and all the s–t was out of my system,” he reflected on the Paul Pod podcast in September 2022.
Eminem has been sober for 13 years, and has been in the rap game for even longer. In a new essay shared by XXL on Wednesday (Sept. 14), the rapper opens up about every step of his come-up, his struggle with addiction when he became famous and his future goals. He has previously admitted his addictions to Vicodin, Valium, Ambien and methadone started while he was filming the semi-autobiographical 2002 film 8 Mile. The rapper was fighting an addiction to prescription medication when he was hospitalised in December 2007 after overdosing on methadone before going to rehab. Every individual can find something that works for them and their needs. When people attempted to tell him he had a problem, he didn’t believe them because he was using legally procured drugs, not heroin, cocaine or crack.
He said that when he looked at his children, he realized that he needed to be present for them. According to the rapper, if he made it to the hospital just two hours later, he would have died from the drug overdose. His organs—liver, kidneys, and everything else—were already shutting down. As it was, his medical attendants did not think he would survive. The incident led him to seek other medication, including Vicodin, to help him relax at the end of the day and help him get some sleep. Eminem acknowledged that all the pain he was feeling seemed to go away after taking the pill.
After a short visit to rehab, a 2007 overdose and a relapse shortly after, the “Stan” rapper sought the guidance of a rehab counselor and has remained sober since 2008. Although it wasn’t easy, sobriety was a pivotal decision in Eminem’s life. “I was experimenting. I hadn’t found a drug of choice. Back then you went on tour and people were just giving you free drugs. I managed it for a little while. And then, it just became, I like this s–t too much and I don’t know how to stop.” And now, Eminem admitted that almost dying from the methadone overdose ‘kind of sucked’ and insisted that music ‘saved his life’ as he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, on Saturday. In 2006, the death of his best friend, DeShaun “Proof” Holton, because of a shooting incident caused him deeper trouble. In 2007, Eminem suffered a huge setback when he nearly died after overdosing on methadone (as well-documented in his song “Arose” from his recent album Revival and “Deja Vu” from 2009’s Relapse).
- In a candid new interview, rap superstar Eminem reveals he suffered from a devastating drug addiction that led to him downing as many as 20 Vicodin, Ambien and Valium in a day.
- The real Slim Shady is 11 years sober and commemorated the occasion by posting a picture of a sobriety coin to Twitter and Instagram.
- All the running eventually took a toll on his body and he tore his hip flexors.
- In the piece penned for XXL, Em discusses the way that “everything changed” after he signed with Interscope and released his second studio album, 1999’s ‘The Slim Shady LP’.
He is also an example of how dangerous prescription drugs can be. Eventually, Eminem lost 90 lbs and, per Billboard, he weighs 140 lbs today. “It was my decision to get clean,” Eminem raps on the 2010 track. “I did it for me. Admittedly, I probably did it subliminally for you, so I could come back a brand new me.”
Eventually, the “Phenomenal” rapper learned how to function sober with the help of running, even to the point where he began to injure himself. After publicly celebrating six years of sobriety on tour in 2018, the singer stunned fans later that same year with the release of the confessional single “Sober,” which revealed that she had relapsed. “Feeling thankful for the freedom that comes with breaking addictions and dependency on substance,” he added. “Sobriety, clarity, and spiritual connectedness feels real good.” The Princess Diaries alum shared in April 2024 that she is more than five years sober. As she told the New York Times, “That feels like a milestone to me.”
The country star has been sober for nearly a decade, but it was a hard-fought road getting there. His addiction to alcohol and pain pills began soon after graduating from high school and didn’t abate when his career began to take off. Eminem was eventually hospitalised in December 2007 following a methadone overdose, with doctors telling him he had ingested the equivalent of four bags of heroin. In a recent interview for manager Paul Rosenberg’s podcast, he discussed having to relearn how to rap following the overdose. “Just after Proof died, I was in my house what was eminem addicted to by myself, and I was just laying in bed and I couldn’t move and I just kept staring at the ceiling fan. I literally couldn’t walk for two days when that happened and eventually my drug use fuckin’ skyrocketed.
“I literally couldn’t walk for two days when that happened and eventually my drug use f–kin’ skyrocketed,” Eminem recalled. “I had f–kin’ 10 drug dealers at one time that I’m getting my s–t from. Seventy-five to 80 Valiums a night, which is a lot. I don’t know how the f–k I’m still here.” Marshall Mathers’ story of drug addiction, overdose, and recovery can be similar to the struggles many victims experience. Entering a professional addiction treatment program can help you plan and commit to a straightforward, supervised path to recovery. Famous rapper and music icon Marshall Mathers, better known as Eminem, struggled with drug abuse from 1999 to 2008.
- The country star has been sober for nearly a decade, but it was a hard-fought road getting there.
- “My addiction didn’t start in my early days when I was coming up,” he explained in a personal essay for XXL in September 2022.
- With the dual releases of her fourth studio album No Shame and memoir My Thoughts Exactly, the singer spent much of 2018 getting brutally honest about the height of her addition problems.
- He started with Shaun T’s Insanity videos, switched to P90x and then moved to Body Beast videos.
- Eminem—born Marshall Bruce Mathers III in St. Joseph, Missouri on October 17, 1972—is a rapper, music producer, songwriter, record executive, and actor who rose to fame in the late 1990s with the release of his second album The Slim Shady LP.
Eminem has opened up about his former struggles with drug addiction in a personal new essay. The “Slim Shady” rapper shared his experience with addiction at the height of his fame. Ark Behavioral Health offers 100% confidential substance abuse assessment and treatment placement tailored to your individual needs. Not everyone has to do it the same way, however, and no one has to do it alone. All the running eventually took a toll on his body and he tore his hip flexors. When he was better, the rapper tried to mix things up by incorporating Shaun T’s Insanity workout, P90X, and Body Beast into his routine.
We want to give recovering addicts the tools to return to the outside world completely substance-free and successful. A 2022 interview with XXL magazine stated that Eminem was celebrating 13 years of sobriety. In this interview, Mathers discussed how his wealth and fame from his early success funded his drug addiction problem. At his lowest point, he was taking between 75 to 80 Valium pills per night. Eminem went to rehab in 2005 to get treatment for his addiction to sleeping pills.
Eminem pens lengthy reflection on struggles with addiction: “I don’t know how the fuck I’m still here”
Eminem’s problem with painkillers started during the filming of his 2002 hit movie, 8 Mile. And according to the ‘Lose Yourself’ rapper, he even suffered a near-fatal overdose. It’s Eminem’s 50th birthday, and as the iconic rapper reaches a major milestone, he also had another impressive anniversary this year. The songwriter admitted in an interview with Vulture in 2017, that the music he created while addicted and in recovery were not his best. Eminem acknowledges having what he calls an addict’s brain, so he thinks of it as having replaced one addiction with another, healthier one. Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, has been sober since April 2008.
After losing nearly everything, Eminem emerged clean but uncomfortable in sobriety. He persevered, slowly relearning his signature verbal dexterity and confronting emotions long buried by drugs. However through it all Eminem remained committed, finding support from friends and family who understood his struggles.