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Eminem is celebrating after he reached his 18th year of sobriety.
On Monday, April 20, the Detroit native shared a photo of himself holding up his sobriety chip on Instagram. The chip has the number "18" in Roman numerals, which confirms he's remained committed to staying away from drugs and alcohol for nearly two decades. In the comment section, Em received plenty of praise from his fellow artists and his longtime supporters.
"Yessir! Keep it up 🐐" Big Sean commented.
"Awesome. Keep Goin 👏🏾" Questlove wrote.
"Congrats my man! BTW, Nice t-shirt!" D-Nice said.
Eminem started his sobriety journey in 2008, following an excruciating battle with an addiction to prescription pills. At one point, the "Real Slim Shady" rapper was hooked on various medications, including Vicodin, Valium, and Ambien. Eminem tried to overcome his addiction by going to rehab in 2005. Unfortunately, he continued to take drugs until he suffered from an accidental overdose in December 2007. That's when he decided to take his health journey seriously. He even had support from celebrities like Elton John.
“My doctor told me the amount of methadone I’d taken was equivalent to shooting up four bags of heroin,” Eminem told VIBE in 2009. “I probably wouldn’t have taken it. But as bad as I was back then, I can’t even say 100 percent for sure.”
Soon after starting his journey to sobriety, Eminem released albums like Relapse (2009), which was his first studio album following his musical hiatus and overdose. He followed up with Recovery (2010), which was a commercial success that reminded fans what he was capable of as a sober artist.
Congratulations to Eminem!