For a lot of people, being in the music industry seems to be such a dream. Musicians get to do what they love the most, which is to write songs, perform on stage with millions of people watching, have records that would hit top charts, and more.
However, all this fame and fortune might actually be great, but it could actually be something that could change a person. The news of famous singers being involved with drug addiction and alcoholism is nothing new at all. Over the years, celebrities have been struggling with it and some of them succumb to it and end up passing away. This is considered to be somewhat an unfortunate event, and some celebrities who actually made it through believe that one of the main reasons for this is the fact that they are famous.
Musicians are often working non-stop. For instance, some have to work with a group of people to write songs for their new albums and it could take them months. Once it is released, they would then need to travel to different places to promote and perform it. Their fans love it, of course, because all they see is the performance, but they don’t realize how this could actually drain a person, especially if they have been doing it for so many years. This is basically what happened to American rapper Eminem.
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, commonly known as Eminem, is one of the most famous rappers of all time, he was even named the best-selling artist of the new millennium and over the years, he has managed to snag not just one, but two Academy Award for Best Original Song and fifteen Grammy Awards. Unfortunately, in 2002, he had health struggles, but he has recently announced his sobriety. Continue reading to find out more.
Eminem’s Health Struggles
While he was working on his 8 Mile album, the American rapper worked 16 hours a day, which led to him developing insomnia. Someone from his team then gave him an Ambien tablet, which helped knock him out, and this was the start of his addiction to prescription.
It definitely affected him for so many years, and he started to take drugs like Valium and Vicodin just for him to feel normal. In an interview, he said that he used to take about 40-60 pills every single day, and sometimes when he gets stressed he takes more. The rapper said that it made him feel really sad and because of his addiction, he actually gained some weight that nobody could recognize him. He also mentioned how two teenagers were arguing one time they were at a drugstore counter and one of the teenagers said that he is not Eminem since Eminem is not fat and wouldn’t look like that.
He was hospitalized in 2007 after being overdosed on methadone, but that didn’t stop him. Right after he got out, he continued to buy more until he got hospitalized again and the doctor said that he actually consumed four bags of heroin and almost passed. After some time, he finally realized that he needed to change his ways and started going to church and to a rehabilitation center where he started to get better. Singer Elton John, who was mentoring him and has been checking up on him during this period, has been a great help to him.
Celebrating 10 Years of Sobriety
In 2018, while headlining alongside Beyoncé, in Coachella Valley Music and Art Festival for 2018, he actually posted a photo of himself with an Alcoholics Anonymous coin that represents the fact that he has managed to stay sober. This post that has the caption “Celebrated my 10 years yesterday,” had more than a million likes.
The rapper said that running and working out have definitely helped him sleep at night. His millions of fans, as well as some other celebrities, congratulated him on his sobriety. This move also helped some of his fans share their own Alcoholics Anonymous coins to inspire those who have been struggling and to encourage them to get help so they could have a better life once more not just for themselves, but also for the people who love and support them.