Timbaland Reveals He Almost Overdosed on Painkillers: 'All I Can Tell You is That There Was a Light'

Timbaland digs into his past in a new Rolling Stone interview, where he reflects on a near-death experience with his addiction to OxyContin. He recalls a moment a few years ago where his girlfriend Michelle feared he would die in his asleep—and it almost happened.

"All I can tell you is that there was a light/ I woke up trying to catch my breath, like I was underwater. But through that whole thing I saw life—I saw where I would be if I don't change, and where I could be if I did," Timbaland explains as he remembers going through a tough withdrawal period. "But I thought about Michael Jackson. I didn't want to be old and taking these pills." The producer says he began taking the painkillers to aide nerve issues from a gunshot wound he got as a teenager. But it spun into an addiction once he realized his musical reign was as strong as it once was, as he saw less chart success.