Eminem Got Sober 17 Years Ago After Realizing ‘I’m Going to Die If I Don’t Do Something’

Eminem’s ‘STANS’ documentary will be available to stream internationally on Paramount+ later this year

Eminem in Los Angeles in 2022.Credit : Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

The “Without Me” rapper, who’s been sober for over 17 years, reflects on the life-changing experience in his new documentary STANS.

“After the overdose, I came home going, ‘Yo, bro, I need something… I’m going to die if I don’t do something,’” Eminem, 52, says in the documentary.

At the time, Eminem was coming off a “vicious cycle” of feeling “depressed” and needing “more pills.” Then, one day, he woke up in the hospital.

“I didn’t how what the f— happened. It seemed like I fell asleep, and I woke up with tubes in me and s—. I wanted to get up. I couldn’t move,” he recalls.

After the overdose, Eminem went into recovery and made his 2009 album Relapse in the process.

“The response I got from Relapse was lukewarm, but that also turned the lights on and I thought, ‘You’ve gotta do something different,’” he says. “Why don’t you try embracing sobriety?”

He continues, “I realized I’m not embarrassed anymore about it, and I started treating sobriety like a superpower. I was proud of the fact that I could quit.”

The “Till I Collapse” rapper marked 16 years of sobriety on Instagram in April 2024 by sharing a photo of his hand holding a new chip commemorating the achievement.

Meanwhile, during an episode of Paul Rosenberg’s Paul Pod podcast in 2022, the “Without Me” hitmaker recalled his early days of recovery.

Eminem in Los Angeles in February 2022.Getty

“I remember when I first got sober and all the s— was out of my system, I remember just being, like, really happy and everything was f—ing new to me again,” he said about making Relapse. “It was the first album and the first time that I had fun recording in a long time.”

In STANS, which was named after his 2000 hit song, viewers witness the “complicated relationship between one of the world’s most private artists and his massive public persona,” a synopsis reads.

“Through stylized recreations, rare archival footage, intimate interviews, and an exclusive original interview with Eminem himself, it offers a raw, loud, and revealing journey across his career — and the passionate audience that has grown with him,” it continues.

The documentary features a “highly curated cast of real-life stans” with personal connections to Eminem and his music.

The documentary was available to watch in AMC Theatres from Thursday, Aug. 7 to Sunday, Aug. 10. If fans missed it, the film will be available to stream internationally on Paramount+ later this year.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.