Run-DMC's Darryl McDaniels Is Getting Vulnerable About His Mental Health: 'It's a Sign of Strength' (Exclusive)

‘Kings From Queens: The Run DMC Story’ is now available to stream on Peacock

Run-DMC was one of the best-selling hip-hop groups of the ’80s, but Darryl “DMC” McDaniels couldn’t handle the fame at the time.

In the recently released Run-DMC Peacock documentary, Kings of Queens: The Run DMC StoryDMC opens with a story about struggling with celebrity, dealing with substance abuse, and being on the verge of taking his own life.

Speaking to PEOPLE about why he wanted to go public with his mental issues, DMC, 59, says that showing fans he’s vulnerable “isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of strength.”

Run-DMC’s Darryl McDaniels ‘drank a case of Olde English a day’ while battling depression

“When you see us after the concert, when the record is out, when we do radio shows and videos, you don’t understand. You see the results, you don’t see the process,” he explains.

“Now, even when the process is going well, it didn’t mean I was immune to struggle or adversity. It hit me late in my life, but it was always there. It was just amplified by the situation I was in,” he adds. “Luckily, what makes it easier for me is that I have this thing called hip-hop, which the first day I heard it told me, keep it real.”

Now, DMC says he doesn’t hold back his emotions “when I’m scared, confused and scared.”

Run-DMC.

Bob Berg/Getty Images

“When I speak my truth, I’m given everything I need to overcome it. If I hold onto it, it will destroy me,” he explains.

DMC says he was in a very dark place after Jam Master Jay’s murder in 2002 and actually contemplated suicide. Then one day he was riding in a taxi when he heard Sarah McLachlan’s ballad “Angel”.

The biggest revelations from Run-DMC’s documentary series Kings of Queens — Including writing ‘My Adidas’ on ‘Angel Dust’

There was no feeling in the world that I could relate to that made me say, ‘It’s going to be all right’ – until I heard that piano on the radio station, and then I heard that voice say, ‘Hands up angela/Fly away…”, he sings.

“Something in my spirit said, ‘D, enough is enough. Life is traumatic. It feels like the end of the world, but as long as there is something that sounds like this, maybe I can stay here a few more days.’ ”

Kings of Queens: The Run DMC Story is now available for streaming.

If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Line by dialing 988, texting “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Line at 741741 or going to 988lifeline.org.

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Source: HIS Education