Eminem: “I was a couple hours away from death”

Happy Tuesday, Marquee blog readers! "Showbiz Tonight's" Brooke Anderson here. I just got back from the Staples Center in downtown L.A., where Eminem, Usher and Jane’s Addiction were among the musical acts at a concert kicking off the E3 video game convention. I was offered a special chance to talk to Eminem before he went on stage.

We met up with Eminem in a VIP lounge, and he talked about his new album, “Recovery” - which hits stores next Monday - and also really opened up about the trials he’s faced over the past several years.

This latest disc, he said, reflects a healthier place in his life.

“Recovery feels better than ever," the Detroit rapper said. "Feels like I’m me again.”

But it wasn’t easy facing his drug addiction demons.

“It took me awhile to admit I actually did have a problem," the musician said. "In the hip-hop world that I live in, it can be mistaken for weakness and the last thing you want to do in hip-hop is admit that you're weak. But if I didn't admit I was weak with this certain thing I was going to die."

When asked how close he was to death, the artist responded that he “was certainly a couple of hours away from death," adding that he "overdosed and almost died.”

But he pulled himself back from the brink and re-entered rehab with a more honest, committed attitude: “I had to admit I had a problem. I had to do it for myself," Eminem said.

The album’s already been leaked and Lindsay Lohan, for one, was inspired by one of its tracks, “Talkin' 2 Myself.” She tweeted, "Couldn't relate to this song more some days...."

I asked Eminem how people who are exposed to the trappings of fame - and everything that goes along with it - avoid the pitfalls?

“That's a tough question. I don't know how you avoid it. I mean, I could say the cliched things, make sure you stay on the right path, you make the right decisions in life," he said. "You know, fame is a funny thing, man, especially, you know, actors, musicians, rappers, rock singers, it's kind of a lifestyle and it's easy to get caught up in it - you go to bars, you go to clubs, everyone's doing a certain thing... It's tough.

And while he could simply say, "stay away from that," he added that perhaps it's something one has to experience. "There's some people that can go do that and some people who can't. I was one of those people who couldn't and I had a tough time trying to understand why I couldn't.”

Source:CNN (blog)