Debbie Nelson, Eminem’s Mother, Passes Away at 69 After Cancer Battle
Debbie Nelson, the mother of acclaimed rapper Eminem, has passed away at the age of 69 following a prolonged battle with lung cancer. A representative for Eminem confirmed the news on Tuesday, revealing that Nelson died on Monday evening in St. Joseph, Missouri.
While Eminem, born Marshall Mathers, has yet to make a public statement regarding his mother’s death, their complicated relationship has been widely documented through his music. Songs such as My Name Is, Cleanin’ Out My Closet, and Headlights have reflected the tension between mother and son.
Despite the portrayal of their strained relationship in his lyrics, Nelson insisted in her 2008 memoir, My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, that her son’s criticisms were based on misunderstanding. She wrote, “In my heart, I know Marshall still loves me. He’s just confused.”
The conflict between the two reached a legal peak in 1999 when Nelson sued Eminem for $10 million, claiming defamation and emotional distress due to his public allegations of drug use and abusive behavior. The lawsuit was settled outside of court, a matter Eminem later referenced in his song Without Me.
However, over the years, there were signs of healing. In Headlights, a 2014 track, Eminem publicly expressed remorse for the way he had depicted his mother.
Born in 1955 on a U.S. Air Force base in Kansas, Debbie Nelson married Bruce Mathers in 1970 at the age of 15. She gave birth to Eminem two years later in St. Joseph, Missouri. The couple divorced in 1974, with Nelson citing physical abuse. After years in Metro Detroit, she returned to St. Joseph, where she spent her final days.
