“It definitely makes you appreciate being alive, that’s for sure,” Dre told James Corden in an interview that aired Friday
Dr. Dre suffered three strokes in 2021 after his brain aneurysm, the rapper and producer said on Friday during an interview with James Corden on Corden’s This Life of Mine show on SiriusXM.
“It definitely makes you appreciate being alive, that’s for sure. It’s something you can’t control, it just happens. During those two weeks, I had three strokes,” Dre told Corden. He also recalled the aneurysm first starting, describing “the worst pain I ever felt” when he woke up, heard a loud pop and felt something behind his right ear.
“I got up and went about my day, and I thought I could lay down and take a nap,” Dre said. “My son and a female friend were like ‘no, we need to take you to the hospital. Next thing you know, I’m blacking out, I’m in and out of consciousness and I end up in the ICU. I was there for two weeks. I’m hearing doctors come in ‘you don’t know how lucky you are.’ I asked questions about what I could’ve done to prevent this, no one could give me an answer.”
Aside from opening up about his health concerns, Dre spoke about his come up as a producer, his surprise on N.W.A’s massive ascent beyond playing in the neighborhood, and the program he co-founded at USC alongside Jimmy Iovine. He also heaped praise to his longtime collaborator and mentee Eminem, who he called “the best emcee ever.”
“Long story short, I met Eminem at Jimmy Iovine’s office, we slapped hands, went to the studio and started recording,” he said. “The first four albums, was just me and [Eminem]. His writing and his delivery and his imagination is off the charts. I don’t think anyone would disagree with that. I don’t think anyone that’s rapping can touch Eminem on that microphone.”
