The 15-time Grammy-winning Mockingbird rapper Eminem, who is also a songwriter and record producer, celebrated 18 years of sobriety on April 20, 2026, as per Billboard. The Lose Yourself hitmaker, whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, had a history of addiction and drinking problems but has been leading a clean and sober life since 2008.
Considered one of the most influential and successful rappers of all time, the 53-year-old Eminem, who is the father of three daughters, took to his Instagram handle, which has 44.8 million followers, and shared a picture of his gold coin marking his 18-year sobriety.
The coin, which is made of gold and has a writing on it which reads “to thing own self be true.” The coin also has the number eighteen etched on it in Roman numerals. Check out Eminem’s Instagram post below:
While Eminem celebrates 18 years of sobriety, the Rap God hitmaker had a problematic past with alcohol and prescription drugs. According to Today, Eminem experienced a near-fatal overdose on methadone in 2007. At the time, he was living in his Detroit residence when this incident took place.
After consuming several methadone tablets, he collapsed on the floor of his bathroom and was eventually admitted to the hospital. During that incident, he also underwent knee surgery and was on painkillers. As cited by Today, Eminem at the time wrote:
“I thought it was a sign of weakness to have an addiction. I didn’t even want to believe it was a disease. But I realized it when I f—ing almost died and then I still went back to using. I literally almost died.”
According to Today, Eminem got admitted into a rehab in 2008 to turn around his life for the better. He consulted a doctor and took some advice from his friend, the legendary Elton John, and decided to begin a new and clean life without any drugs or alcohol. During a SiriusXM channel interview, Marshall said:
“There’s something that triggers in my brain that will not allow me to stop when I take one of whatever it may be. I am taking every step every day, which is a lifelong process…. You have to say, ‘I’m an addict. I’m powerless over this s—.'”
After struggling with alcohol and drugs for quite some time, Marshall Mathers finally recovered and got sober, and that day was April 20, 2008.
Eminem consumed powerful prescription drugs in 2005
According to Today, the Real Slim Shady rapper, Eminem, was in bad shape as he was consuming multiple powerful prescription drugs without any supervision. He wrote in Vibe magazine:
“I was taking Valium, Ambien, and Vicodin. And I was taking a lot. If I was to give you a number of Vicodin I would actually take in a day? Anywhere between 10 and 20. Valium, Ambien, the numbers got so high I don’t even know what I was taking.”
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Edited by Sroban Ghosh