Eminem celebrates 13 years of being Sober today.
It’s been 13 years since Eminem became sober, who was once taking up to 60 Valium and 30 Vicodin pills a day during the peak of his drug addiction. For the last few years, Detroit has been celebrating sobriety by sharing his ‘Unity Service & Recovery‘ coin which is rewarded to Alcoholics Anonymous members & other 12 step program users after key points in their recovery and Eminem might post the coin he will receive on 13 years of Sober. Last year, he shared the 12th-anniversary coin and wrote, “Clean dozen, in the books! I’m not afraid.”
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Back in 2011, Eminem talked about his 2007 methadone overdose and said, “The doctors told me I’d done the equivalent of four bags of her**n. They said I was about two hours from dying.”
Eminem subsequently acknowledged that the death of DeShaun “Proof” Holton, a fellow rapper and one of his closest childhood friends, in 2006 contributed significantly to his addiction.
“I remember days I spent just taking f–king pills and crying,” he told Rolling Stone. “I wasn’t the only person grieving — he left a wife and kids. But I was very much in my own grief,” he added.
The Grammy Award-winner continued: “I was so high at his funeral. It disgusts me to say it, but I felt like it was about me. I hate myself for even thinking that. It was selfish.”
Eminem discussed how difficult his recovery process had been for him in a 2013 interview with MTV. “Coming off everything, I was literally up 24 hours a day for three weeks straight,” he said during the interview. “And I mean, not sleeping, not even nodding off for a f—–g minute. I had to regain motor skills, I had to regain talking skills. It’s been a learning process, I’m growing. I couldn’t believe that anybody could be naturally happy without being on something. So I would say to anybody ‘It does get better.’”
In 2015, Eminem revealed in an interview with Men’s Journal Magazine that he was over 200 pounds when he admitted to the hospital in 2007. “In 2007, I overdosed on pills, and I went into the hospital,” said Eminem. “I was close to 230 pounds. I’m not sure how I got so big, but I have ideas. The Coating on the Vicodin and the Valium I’d been taking for years leaves a hole in your stomach, so to avoid a stomachache, I was constantly eating, and eating badly.”
Dr. Dre and Eminem worked out together a few times, according to Eminem “I’m not sure exactly when I finally got it. In the early days, I just went with the flow: If I could hit a gym, I’d hit a gym. If someone suggested a workout that seemed legit, I might try it, but it wasn’t a priority. Everything has to work around the music. Still, I wanted to stay fit even if I never wanted to get big.”
In 2010, he released the album Recovery, which won the Grammy for Best Rap Album the following year, barely a year after completing rehab. With 2017’s Revival, 2018’s Kamikaze, and his most recent album Music to Be Murdered By, he has been extremely active in recent years.
During his recovery process, he used to run 17 miles a day on a treadmill. “I got an addict’s brain, and when it came to running, I think I got a little carried away. I became a f**king hamster,” said Eminem. “Seventeen miles a day on a treadmill. I would get up in the morning, and before I went to the studio, I would run eight and a half miles in about an hour. Then I’d come home and run another eight and a half. I started getting OCD about calories, making sure I burned 2,000 every day. In the end, I got down to about 149 pounds. I ran to the point where I started to get injured. All the constant pounding from the running began to tear up my hip flexors.”
He also revealed that Elton John helped him get sober. “He usually calls me once a week to check on me, just to make sure I’m on the up-and-up,” said Em about Elton John. “He was actually one of the first people I called when I wanted to get clean.”
A few years ago, Eminem’s good friend and one half of Bad Meets Evil, Royce da 5’9″ revealed that Marshall helped him get sober too. “Eminem helped me all the way through,” said Royce. “He was one of the first people I called. I let him know I needed help. I came back to Detroit and he, Tracy McNew, and Paul Rosenberg at Shady Records checked me into this hospital and I went and saw Em’s doctor.”
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