Debbie Nelson, Eminem’s Mother, Dies at 69

The rapper’s mom was previously diagnosed with lung cancer

Debbie Nelson, the mother of rapper Eminem, has died. She was 69.

A rep for Eminem confirms to PEOPLE that Nelson died in the evening on Monday, Dec. 2, in St. Joseph, Mo., from complications related to lung cancer. TMZ was first to report the news of Nelson’s death.

News of her illness was first reported by multiple outlets in September.

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Nelson was born in 1955 on a military base in Kan. and said she grew up in a “large dysfunctional family,” according to her 2008 memoir, My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem. Her parents split up before she turned 10, she wrote in the book, leaving her responsible to provide for the family as the oldest of five children.

At age 16, she married Eminem’s father, Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. Two years later, she welcomed the “Lose Yourself” rapper in 1972.

Debbie Nelson in September 2005 in Detroit, Michigan. Mark Weiss/Getty

Eminem, 52, and Nelson had a rocky relationship throughout her life. He apparently called her out in his 2002 song “Cleanin’ Out My Closet,” which led to Nelson suing her son for $11 million for defamation.

ABC News reported that while the judge ruled in her favor, Nelson was only granted $25,000 of the $11 million dollars she asked for. Ultimately, she was only entitled to about $1,600 after lawyer fees.

Eminem attends a ceremony honoring Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on January 30, 2020. ; minem’s mother Debbie Mathers during a portrait session outside her house in September, 2005 in Detroit, Michigan. Kurt Krieger/Corbis/Getty ; Mark Weiss/Getty

Nelson considered reconciling with Eminem in a 2008 interview with The Village Voice. “There’s hope for everybody,” she said at the time. “It’s a matter of just basically swallowing your pride. It’s like a cashed check. It’s over, it’s done. You need to move on.”

In 2013 when the rapper released “Headlights,” fans speculated that it was his apologizing to Nelson. “And I’m mad I didn’t get the chance to thank you for being my mom and my dad,” he sings in one part of the song. “So Mom, please accept this as a tribute I wrote on this jet.”

Debbie Nelson in 2005. Mark Weiss/Getty

She celebrated her son from afar in recent years. When he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, she congratulated him online.

“Marshall, I want to say, I could not let this day go by without congratulating you on your induction into the Hall of Fame,” she said in a since-deleted video.