R.I.P. Debbie Nelson, Eminem’s mother and contentious lyrical muse

Nelson was 69.

By Matt Schimkowitz  |  December 3, 2024 | 10:20pm
Photo by Mark Weiss (Getty Images)
Music News Eminem
R.I.P. Debbie Nelson, Eminem’s mother and contentious lyrical muse

Debbie Nelson, the oft-mentioned and even more oft-criticized mother of Eminem, has died of complications from lung cancer. Her death was confirmed to TMZ through Eminem’s representative, Dennis Denney. She was 69.

Nelson was a frequently discussed antagonist in Eminem’s lyrics, including his biggest hits. “I just found out my mom does more dope than I do,” Mathers raps on “My Name Is.” “I told her I’d grow up to be a famous rapper. Make a record about doing drugs and name it after her.” On 2004’s “Lose Yourself,” Mathers famously raps about vomit on his sweater being ” mom’s spaghetti” and won a Grammy for Best Rap Song for his troubles. Those are probably some of the kinder lyrics Mathers wrote about his mother. On “Cleanin’ Out My Closet,” he accuses her of being abusive and neglectful; “Brain Damage” alleges she beat him “over the head with a remote control.”

In 1999, months after her son rocketed to fame, Nelson sued her son in an $11 million defamation of character suit. She settled for $25,000, of which she received $1,600. He later rapped about the suit on 2000’s “Marshall Mathers.” That year, she released a spoken word track, “Dear Marshall,” pleading with her son to stop demeaning her in his songs.

Though much of their early public relationship was contentious, they eventually made peace. In 2007, Nelson wrote the memoir My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, writing that she and her son were “so close that friends and relatives commented that it was as if the umbilical cord had never been cut.” Mathers eventually relented on 2013’s “Headlights,” in which the rapper empathizes with his mother for the first time.

“I went in headfirst, never thinkin’ about who what I said hurt. In what verse, my mom probably got it the worst, the brunt of it, but as stubborn as we are, did I take it too far?” Mathers raps. “‘Cleanin’ Out My Closet’ and all them other songs, but regardless, I don’t hate you ’cause, Ma. You’re still beautiful to me ’cause you’re my mom.”

 
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