Eminem has admitted he is thankful he survived his battle with drug addiction.

The rapper was a guest on Zane Lowe's Radio 1 show last night for a wide-ranging interview which touched upon his passion for rap music, his new album 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2'. He also discussed some of the problems he has faced in recent years, and said he was lucky to have survived as he could have easily gone down "another path".

Previously, Eminem had revealed that he had struggled with addiction to prescription pills. At its peak, he was taking up to 60 Valium and 30 Vicodin pills a day and overdosed on methadone in 2007. Speaking to Lowe, he said: "I'm definitely thankful. I know that I could have certainly taken another path and gone another direction [but] I think that i'm probably able to be more focused now than I've ever been."

The rapper – who also joked that although he had put the events into perspective there was still "a lot that I don't remember" – added: "I know there's so many addicts in this world and people who had problems like that that don't make it. So I'm thankful for that. The one that's that really helps me through is the music, and the passion for that."

He also discussed the impact worldwide fame had had on his life and how he had found becoming a celebrity difficult to cope with at first. "I want to be able to go out in public and be able to eat a fucking sandwich and be left alone," he said. "I've never been an attention seeker. That's not why I do it." You can watch video footage of the first part of the interview by clicking at the bottom of the page.

Eminem released 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2' earlier this month. His first solo record since 2010's 'Recovery', it subsequently went on to claim the Number One spot on the Official UK Albums Chart.