Macklemore Reveals He Relapsed Over The Pandemic, Following Near-Fatal Overdose

Throughout his longstanding career in the music industry, Macklemore has been open about his struggles with addiction and the obstacles he's faced on his path to sobriety. 

Sprinkled throughout his discography, the "Thrift Shop" rapper has gotten candid about drug and alcohol abuse, relapsing, and relying on the addiction community for treatment. Now, Macklemore is opening up once again and sharing that during the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic, he found himself back in the throes of addiction. 

Sharing a video to TikTok, Macklemore wrote, "I relapsed during the first summer of Covid. Today I have 694 days clean." The video revelation is set to his new song, "CHANT," which features Australian singer Tones and I, released this past week on Friday, July 22. 

In the song's lyrics, Macklemore candidly raps, “I’m from the underground, anything above ground is a mountain/I’m done tryna impress anybody but the heavens where I’m headed/You don’t get to hold on me your flowers/I am in my zonе, eyes on the thronе." 

He continues, "20k deep, better pull out your phones/Turnin’ the arena to believers every time I hit the ceiling/Ain’t nobody ever touchin’ my show/Look at where we started, look at where we got to/Almost OD’d that night in the hospital/Wasn’t gonna die, more life in the arsenal/Got another shot to pull off the impossible.”

The Washington native initially began treatment for drug and alcohol addiction in 2008. He revealed that he suffered a relapse in 2011 and then again in 2014. In 2021, Macklemore was a guest on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast where he first revealed he had relapsed over the pandemic. The rapper said he was losing focus on his sobriety as his 12-step meetings became virtual. 

"It was within two months of my COVID relapse, and the disease of addiction is crazy," he said at the time. "I've spent most of the last 11 years in recovery, and it's made me who I am," he said. "I've compromised my life and other people around me, I've done things that I'm not proud of, but I do have that foundational level of 10 years of recovery, and I'm f***ing proud of that."

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