Eminem has spoken candidly about how his drug addiction led to his retirement from the music industry.

The rapper, who releases his comeback album 'Relapse' on May 18, revealed that he spent three years battling the addiction and that the death of his friend Proof made it even worse.

In an interview with XXL magazine he told how his first relapse from going clean caused him to give up his career.

He said: “I wasn’t ready mentally. I wasn’t ready to give up the drugs. I didn’t really think I had a problem.

"Basically, I went in, and I came out. I relapsed, and I spent the next three years struggling with it. Also, at that time, I felt like I wanted to pull back, because my drug problem had got so bad. I felt like, Maybe if I take a break, maybe this will help.”

On the death of Proof, he added: “Everyone felt his loss, from his kids, to his wife, to everyone. But, for some reason, in hindsight, the way I felt was almost like it happened to just me... Maybe at the time I was a little bit selfish with it.

"I think it kind of hit me so hard. It just blind-sided me. I just went into such a dark place that, with everything, the drugs, my thoughts, everything. And the more drugs I consumed, and it was all depressants I was taking, the more depressed I became, the more self-loathing I became...

"By the way, I’m just now at the point where I’m better talking about it. It took me so long to get out of that place where I couldn’t even speak about it without crying or wanting to cry... Proof was the anchor." (@Music)