Debbie Nelson, the mother of rapper Eminem, has died. She was 69.
A rep for Eminem confirms to PEOPLE that Nelson died in the evening on Monday, December 2, in St. Joseph, Missouri, from complications related to lung cancer.
News of her illness was first reported by multiple outlets in September.
Nelson was born in 1955 on a military base in Kan. and said she grew up in a “large dysfunctional family,” according to her 2008 memoir, My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem. Her parents split up before she turned ten, she wrote in the book, leaving her responsible to provide for the family as the oldest of five children.
At age 16, she married Eminem’s father, Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. Two years later, she welcomed the “Lose Yourself” rapper in 1972.
Eminem, 52, and Nelson had a rocky relationship throughout her life. He apparently called her out in his 2002 song “Cleanin’ Out My Closet,” which led to Nelson suing her son for $11 million for defamation.
ABC News reported that while the judge ruled in her favour, Nelson was only granted $25 000 of the $11 million she asked for. Ultimately, she was only entitled to about $1 600 after lawyer fees.
Nelson considered reconciling with Eminem in a 2008 interview with The Village Voice. “There’s hope for everybody,” she said at the time. “It’s a matter of just basically swallowing your pride. It’s like a cashed check. It’s over, it’s done. You need to move on.”
In 2013, when the rapper released “Headlights”, fans speculated that it was his [apology] to Nelson. “And I’m mad I didn’t get the chance to thank you for being my mum and my dad,” he sings in one part of the song. “So Mum, please accept this as a tribute I wrote on this jet.”
She celebrated her son from afar in recent years. When he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, she congratulated him online.
“Marshall, I want to say, I could not let this day go by without congratulating you on your induction into the Hall of Fame,” she said in a since-deleted video. (People Magazine)
