Sir Elton John has given Eminem a helping hand to get off drugs, according to The Sun.

The red top quotes Eminem as saying "I talk to Elton a lot. We became friends, and I talk to him about things, career-wise.

"He had a substance-abuse problem in the past. So when I first wanted to get sober, I called him, because he's somebody in the business... who can relate to the lifestyle and how hectic things can be.

"He understands, like, the pressure and any other reasons that you wanna come up with for doing drugs," Eminem said. "So I told him, 'Look, I'm going through a problem, and I need your advice."

Elton John has previously defended Eminem against attacks from the gay community over his supposedly homophobic lyrics. Speaking in 2005, the singer said, "From the start, I've always admired Eminem's thinking. That's the reason I wanted to appear on the Grammys with him when I was asked, despite all the nonsense talked about his being homophobic.

"Let the Boy Georges and the George Michaels of the world get in a twist about it if they don't have the intelligence to see his intelligence."