Eminem celebrates 16 years sober
Rapper Eminem has celebrated 16 years sober by showing off the chip he received from his support group.
Eminem is celebrating 16 years sober.
The 51-year-old rapper marked the milestone by sharing a picture showing him holding the 16-year chip he received from his support group in a post on Instagram. Eminem - real name Marshall Mathers - chose not to caption the snap, but he was flooded with messages of congratulations from friends, fans and family including his brother Nathan 'Nate' Mathers, who commented: "Greatest influence and mentor."
Eminem's longtime music manager Paul Rosenberg added: "Sweet 16. So proud of you."
The star spent years struggling with addiction issues before suffering a near-fatal overdose in 2007 which prompted him to get clean during a stint in rehab .
He previously told XXL he had as many as "10 drug dealers at one time" and was taking "75 to 80 Valiums" a night, he added: "When I wrap it up in a nutshell, I realise that all the heaviest drug usage and addiction spanned only about five years of my life. It’s crazy for me to think back.
"It felt like a long time when it was happening, but looking back at it now, it wasn’t that long of a time for my problem to explode as it did."
Eminem explained he swapped drug abuse for healthy habits when he got out of rehab, revealing he took up running which enabled him to lose weight and also helped him sleep .
He told h Men's Journal in 2015: "When I got out of rehab, I needed to lose weight, but I also needed to figure out a way to function sober.
"Unless I was blitzed out of my mind, I had trouble sleeping. So I started running. It gave me a natural endorphin high, but it also helped me sleep, so it was perfect.
"It’s easy to understand how people replace addiction with exercise. One addiction for another, but one that's good for them."
