Macklemore remembers tragic rapper pal who overdosed

Grammy Award-winning rapper Macklemore has opened up about the death of a young friend he used to attend sobriety meetings with, revealing he had helped make his recording dreams come true the day before he overdosed.

The Same Love hitmaker, real name Ben Haggerty, is a recovering addict and the passing of his pal was a wake-up call to remind him that he always has to be careful as he continues to battle his demons.

In a new interview with MTVu, the rapper says, "I ran into him at a meeting; he was, like, 20 and I was 26... We started, like, going to meetings together. He was addicted to Oxycontin. He had really bad anxiety and was really into pills.

"He was just one of those people who when he shared in a meeting... the room lit up; he had one of those personalities.

"He was a rapper; he wasn't very good... I always said, 'If you get two weeks (clean), I'll bring you to the studio... Show me that you're trying'.

"He got two weeks so I brought him to the studio. Me and Ryan (Lewis) recorded, like, three or four songs of his and I sent him home with a CD. It was the first time that he ever heard himself in his headphones.

"I dropped him off at his home and I got a call from his sister the next day and she told me that Kevin had overdosed. He was 20 years old. He got home and celebrated and never woke up from that. And I know how closely I've walked that line; I know that I'm not far away from that... I never will be, and if I don't share Kevin's story, if I don't participate in the community of sobriety, I could very easily... not wake up, like Kevin."