Debbie Nelson, the mother of hip-hop artist Eminem, passed away on Dec. 2 in St. Joseph, Missouri following a battle with lung cancer.
She was just 69 years old.
TMZ was first to break the news on Dec. 3. The report was confirmed by Dennis Dennehy, a rep for Eminem.
Nelson’s bout with lung cancer was revealed in September when a source told In Touch that she was “terminally ill” and that there aren’t many options for her.
“She is currently staying between the cancer center and with family members. She has a very limited amount of time [left],” the insider continued.
Nelson hasn’t had the best relationship with her Grammy-winning son and a lot of their issues were highlighted in Eminem’s biggest hits.
In one 1999 track, titled “My Name Is,” Eminem accuses his mother of being a drug addict.
Nelson would later deny those accusations in a defamation case against Eminem, which she filed that same year, according to NBC News.
Eminem continued to accuse his mother of neglect and abuse early in his career, including one 2002 track, titled “Cleanin’ Out My Closet.”
Five years later, Nelson told her side of the story in her memoir, “My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem.”
“What mother wants to be known as a pill-popping alcoholic who lives on welfare?” she wrote in the book. “None of it was true, but the fibs kept getting bigger, and ultimately Marshall and I became estranged.”
Eminem and Nelson have attempted to reconcile in the past, but struggled to find a lasting connection.
Still, Eminem has learned to appreciate his mother as he grows older.
“I mean, even though we don’t really speak, she is my mother. I do love her and I think I got a better understanding of what she was going through or what she may be going through,” he said in a 2009 interview on BET’s “106 & Park.”
More recently, Nelson congratulated her son for being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
“Marshall, I could not let this day go by without congratulating you on your induction to the Hall of Fame,” she said in a video shared by The Shadyverse.
“I love you very much. I knew you’d get there. And it’s been a long ride,” she added.
Nelson was born at a military base in Kansas in 1955, according to her memoir.
She married Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. when she was 15 and gave birth to Eminem about two years later after moving to Michigan to be with her grandmother.
