In the midst of a second weekend performing at Coachella, Marshall Mathers — best known as rapper Eminem — took a moment to celebrate.
The 45-year-old rapper shared a photo of himself on social media on Saturday, proudly brandishing a medallion commemorating 10 years of sobriety.
“Celebrated my 10 years yesterday,” Mathers wrote as a caption.
It’s been a long road to recovery for the rapper, who suffered from an accidental overdose in 2007.
In 2010, Mathers explained to the New York Times what his album Recovery referred to.
“I used to get pills wherever I could. I was just taking anything that anybody was giving to me,” Mathers said, also specifying that he previously was a regular user of Vicodin, Valium, Ambien and, unwittingly, methadone.
Mathers also said that his weekly visits with a rehab counsellor, as well as his children, both contributed to keeping him sober.
In 2015, the artist spoke to Men’s Journal about how he funnelled his energy now into exercise instead of intoxicants.
“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,” Mathers explained. “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,” he continued. “One addiction for another but one that’s good for them.”
