WASHINGTON — Debbie Nelson, the mother of rapper Eminem, died Monday evening. She was 69.
Eminem’s longtime representative Dennis Dennehy confirmed Nelson’s death in an email on Tuesday. He did not provide a cause of death, although Nelson had battled lung cancer.
The Grammy-winning rapper and his mother had a tumultuous relationship, apparent in the lyrics of songs such as the 2002 single “Cleaning Out My Closet.” Eminem sings: “Witnessin’ your mama poppin’ prescription pills in the kitchen. ... My whole life I was made to believe I was sick when I wasn’t.”
Nelson famously sued her son for defamation in 1999 over lyrics in his debut album. While a judge ruled in her favor at the time, she was granted only $25,000 of the $11 million she originally asked for, ABC News reported at the time.
In lyrics from his Oscar-winning hit “Lose Yourself” from the movie “8 Mile,” his feelings seem to have simmered, referencing his "mom’s spaghetti.” The song went on to win best rap song at the 2004 Grammy Awards. Fans also speculate his song "Headlights" was an apology to his mother.
“And I’m mad I didn’t get the chance to thank you for being my mom and my dad," Eminem says in "Headlights." "So Mom, please accept this as a tribute I wrote on this jet."
Nelson most recently celebrated her son online after he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
"Marshall, I want to say, I could not let this day go by without congratulating you on your induction into the Hall of Fame," Nelson said at the time in a social media video. "I love you very much. I knew you'd get there. It's been a long ride. I'm very, very proud of you."
Nelson wrote a memoir about her life titled "My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem," in which she attempted to set the record straight by providing readers details about the rapper’s early life, writing that Eminem had forgotten the good times they had.
“Marshall and I were so close that friends and relatives commented that it was as if the umbilical cord had never been cut,” she wrote.
She also detailed her own childhood, describing a violent home life in which her dad’s mother, who she spent summers with, was “the one woman in my large dysfunctional family to show us kids love.”
In 2004, she was dragged from her car on Eight Mile Road, the street in a Detroit suburb made famous by “8 Mile,” by a 16-year-old who was later sentenced to more than four years in prison. She suffered bruises and a broken foot.
The highly acclaimed rapper Eminem won for best hip hop act at the 2024 MTV EMAs and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.