Debbie Nelson, the single parent of rapper Eminem, whose tumultuous relationship with her son gained notoriety through his chart-topping lyrics, has passed away at the age of 69.
Eminem’s longtime spokesperson, Dennis Dennehy, confirmed Nelson’s passing via email on Tuesday. He did not disclose the cause of death, though Nelson had struggled with lung cancer.
Born in 1955 on a military installation in Kansas, Nelson’s challenging relationship with her son, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, has been well-known since the Detroit rapper achieved fame.
Eminem has criticized his mother in tracks like the 2002 hit “Cleaning Out My Closet,” where he expresses: “Witnessin’ your mama poppin’ prescription pills in the kitchen… My whole life I was led to believe I was ill when I wasn’t.”
In lyrics from his Oscar-winning anthem “Lose Yourself” from the film “8 Mile,” his sentiments seem to have cooled, alluding to his “mom’s spaghetti.” The track eventually secured the Grammy Award for best rap song in 2004.
Nelson initiated and settled a pair of slander lawsuits concerning Eminem’s comments about her in magazines and on radio talk shows. In her 2008 memoir, “My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem,” she sought to clarify the narrative by sharing insights about the rapper’s formative years, claiming that Eminem had overlooked the positive moments they shared.
“Marshall and I were so close that friends and relatives remarked it was as if the umbilical cord had never been severed,” she wrote.
She also recounted her own upbringing, portraying a tumultuous home environment where her grandmother, with whom she spent summers, was “the one woman in my large dysfunctional family to show us kids affection.”
In 2004, Debbie Nelson was forcibly removed from her vehicle 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 over four years in prison. She sustained bruises and a fractured foot.