Eminem’s mother, Debbie Nelson, dies aged 69 | Ents & Arts News

Debbie Nelson, the mother of rapper Eminem, has died at the age of 69.

Her death was confirmed by Eminem’s representative Dennis Dennehy on Tuesday.

The cause of death is yet to be confirmed, although Ms Nelson had battled lung cancer.

Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, often highlighted the strained relationship he had with his mother in his music.

In two of his most popular songs, My Name Is and Cleanin’ Out My Closet, he accuses Ms Nelson of drug abuse and neglect.

In the 2002 hit Cleanin’ Out My Closet he says: “Witnessin’ your mama poppin’ prescription pills in the kitchen”. He later claims she was “trying to take what you didn’t help me to get”.

Later the same year, a fictionalised version of his mother who is an alcoholic, was played by Kim Basinger in the semi-autobiographical film 8 Mile which the rapper also stars in.

Ms Nelson brought and settled a pair of defamation lawsuits over Eminem’s statements about her in magazines and on radio talk shows.

But in her 2008 book My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, she attempted to set the record straight.

The book’s blurb claims that she was a “single mother who wanted the world for her son, only to see herself defamed and shut out when he got it”, Sky News’ US partner network NBC said.

She also shared details about the rapper’s early life, writing that Eminem had forgotten the good times they had.

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Over the years, the tensions between the two seemed to simmer, with the rapper apologising to Ms Nelson in his 2013 song Headlights.

“Cause to this day we remain estranged, and I hate it though,” he raps, adding: “Cause you ain’t even get to witness your grandbabies grow. But I’m sorry, momma, for Cleanin’ Out My Closet. At the time I was angry, rightfully? Maybe so. Never meant that far to take it, though.”

Ms Nelson also publicly congratulated her son in 2022 after he was indicted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, Billboard reported, saying in a video shared at the time: “I love you very much. I knew you’d get there. It’s been a long ride. I’m very, very proud of you.”