Eminem shares photo of commemorative coin marking 16 years of sobriety

Eminem, the American rapper recently celebrated another year of sobriety by posting a photo of a new chip commemorating the 16-year achievement on his social media.

On Saturday, April 20, 2024, the 51-year-old shared the milestone on Instagram with fans with a picture of his hand holding a chip that had "Unity, Service and Recovery" inscribed on it with the number 16. The post did not have a caption.

The artist has shared his journey of sobriety in the past along with a near-fatal drug overdose in 2007 that served as a wake-up call for him. He got on the wagon the following year, on April 20, 2008.

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Eminem celebrates 16 years of sobriety by posting his new chip on Instagram

Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, is known as one of the best-selling artists of the early 21st century. He performed in Detroit's battle rap scene at clubs in the late 80s while working several jobs to help his mother, Debbie, pay the bills.

The rapper's addiction began in the early 2000s after he earned significant fame from The Slim Shady LP. In an exclusive with Billboard in 2022, Eminem spoke about the time he was struggling. He said:

"I remember things started getting really, really bad when me, 50 and G-Unit did BET’s 106 & Park. We performed You Don’t Know on the show and then we did an interview afterward. That’s when the wheels started coming off. One of the hosts was talking to me and I could not understand a word she was saying. 50 had to cover for me and answer every question."

The rap legend posted a photo of his 16-year sobriety chip on his Instagram on Friday. He began his journey away from alcohol and drugs on April 20, 2008, while working on his 2009 album Relapse.

In 2022, Eminem appeared on an episode of his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg's Paul Pod podcast, to talk about music and how his life felt different sober. He said:

"I remember when I first got sober and all the sh*t was out of my system, I remember just being, like, really happy and everything was f*cking new to me again. It was the first album and the first time that I had fun recording in a long time. It was like the first time I started having fun with music again, and re-learning how to rap, you remember that whole process."

Eminem also talked about various factors that helped him from relapsing in the past several years. He credited all three of his kids, his biological daughter Hailie Jade, and his two adopted children, Alaina and Stevie.

Eminem and Kim Scott met in the 1980s while they were in high school. They tied the knot twice from 1999 to 2001 and again in 2006. However, they divorced the same year.

The rapper disclosed in a previous interview that apart from his children's help, he also replaced “addiction with exercise.” In 2015, Eminem told the Men’s Journal that,

"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. 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. One addiction for another but one that’s good for them."

On March 19, 2024, Dr. Dre revealed that Eminem would be returning with a new album in 2024. The exact date of release has not been announced as of yet.