Everyone knows the famous rapper Eminem, but not everyone knows he is in recovery. He has faced many challenges in life, including active addiction, but he never let anything stop him. Eminem has shared his life, struggles, and achievements openly in his music and in interviews.

Eminem’s addiction struggles first started when he began  using prescription drugs while filming “8 Mile”. He then made a documentary, “How To Make Money Selling Drugs”, which shares his journey on how he started using. He shared that the first time he took a Vicodin, he didn’t feel any pain and that he felt mellow. He isn’t sure exactly when it became a problem, but that he just kept liking it more and more. People tried to tell him that he had a problem, but he did not want to believe it. No matter how many excuses he made for himself, it was becoming much worse. He felt like he needed opiates just to feel normal. He also shared that he was a “functioning addict”, which in his eyes is the worst type of addict. At one point, he couldn’t picture himself doing anything without drugs. Eventually, he realized his addiction wasn’t just affecting himself, but his family too. He finally made the decision to get help because of his daughters.

It took Eminem a few tries in addiction rehab, some relapses along the way, and an overdose to get to where he is now. In 2008, he checked himself into rehab and decided to really take it seriously this time. He finally admitted that he’s an addict, got a sponsor, and regularly attends 12 step meetings. He shared that it never really occurred to him that addiction runs in his family. He finally understands and has compassion for his mother. Last April, Eminem celebrated 11 years clean and sober. Although he had some very painful experiences in active addiction, he used those experiences to create his Recovery and Relapse album, which shares about everything he’s been through and what it was like for him to get clean and sober. Eminem shared in an interview that “He’s back” and that rap was his drug. He also shared that rap stopped working to get him high and that’s when he started looking for other things to get him out of himself. Rap is now his “high” once again. Face the Music Foundation has seen hip hop and all other types of music replace the high of drug and alcohol addiction.