The 51-year-old rapper previously said that a near-fatal drug overdose in 2007 was a wake-up call that motivated him to get sober
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Eminem in Hollywood in January 2020
Eminem is celebrating another year of sobriety.
On Saturday, April 20, the “Lose Yourself” rapper, 51, marked 16 years sober, sharing the milestone on Instagram with fans. The Grammy winner — who was born Marshall Mathers — posted a photo of his hand holding a new chip commemorating the achievement.
The comments section of the captionless post was filled with messages of support and congratulations for the rapper. “We’re all proud of you for being 16 years sober 💪,” read a note from the fan account Stanistheone.
“Great decision you made brother! We’re all very proud of you ❤️,” fellow rapper DTG (real name Dylan Godfrey) wrote.
Eminem previously shared that a near-fatal drug overdose in 2007 was a wake-up call that inspired him to get sober after taking up to 20 pills a day.
“I remember when I first got sober and all the s— was out of my system, I remember just being, like, really happy and everything was f—ing new to me again,” he said on Paul Rosenberg’s Paul Pod podcast in 2022.
On top of crediting his kids — biological daughter Hailie Jade and his two adopted children, Alaina and Stevie — with keeping him sober, Eminem also replaced “addiction with exercise.”
Eminem performing in June 2018
“When I got out of rehab, I needed to lose weight, but I also needed to figure out a way to function sober,” the rapper told Men’s Journal in 2015. “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.”
Eminem added, “It’s easy to understand how people replace addiction with exercise. One addiction for another but one that’s good for them.”
