After battling substance abuse for years, Marshall ‘Eminem’ Mathers, 51, is now celebrating 16 years of being sober.

Vicodin, Valium, and alcohol were the drugs of choice and the I’m Not Afraid singer knew they were becoming a problem.

Eminem reportedly took these drugs to “cope” with his work and hectic lifestyle.

He admitted in an interview that he even added the sleep drug Ambien to the mix, stating: “I would take a little to perform, which you would think doesn’t make sense, but Ambien is a mind eraser. So, if you don’t go to sleep on it, you get in this weird comatose state.”

In 2006, following the murder of friend and fellow rapper DeShaun ‘Proof’ Holton, Eminem explained that his addiction skyrocketed. “[It] went through the f**kin’ roof.”

He said he was taking 75 to 80 Valiums a night. During the fight with addiction, the rapper gained 230 pounds in weight. He discovered that taking medicines left him with awfully uncomfortable holes in his stomach, so he remedied it by consuming large amounts of food to ease the pain.

Eminem had tried rehab and failed miserably, relapsing a few times.

“I was the worst kind of addict, a functioning addict,” he said in an interview in 2009.

He recalled going to the restroom, falling and then waking up in a hospital bed. This occurred a few months after Proof’s passing.

“Waking up with fucking tubes in me and shit, and I couldn’t talk,” he said.

 After overdosing on methadone shortly after, he decided to get sober the following year. 

Daughters, Hailie (28), Stevie (21) and adopted daughter Alaina (31), are mentioned as additional sources of motivation behind Eminem’s decision to sober up.

Sixteen years forward, Eminem has maintained his sobriety and is still making music.

His name continues to be mentioned in discussions about the top 5 greatest rappers alive.