2 weeks Ago By Hallie Golden
Debbie Nelson, the single mother of rapper whose rocky relationship with her son was known widely through his hit song lyrics, has died. She was 69. Eminem’s longtime representative Dennis Dennehy confirmed Nelson’s death in an email on Tuesday.
He did not provide a cause of death, although Nelson had battled lung cancer. Nelson’s fraught relationship with her son, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, has been no secret since the Detroit rapper became a star. has disparaged his mother in songs such as the 2002 single “Cleaning Out My Closet.
” sings: “Witnessin’ your mama poppin’ prescription pills in the kitchen. ..
. My whole life I was made to believe I was sick when I wasn’t.” In lyrics from his Oscar-winning hit “Lose Yourself” from the movie “8 Mile,” his feelings seem to have simmered, referencing his “mom’s spaghetti.
” The song went on to win best rap song at the 2004 Grammy Awards. Nelson brought and settled a pair of defamation lawsuits over Eminem’s statements about her in magazines and on radio talk shows. In her 2008 book, “My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem,” she attempted to set the record straight by providing readers details about the rapper’s early life, writing that had forgotten the good times they had.
“Marshall and I were so close that friends and relatives commented that it was as if the umbilical cord had never been cut,” she wrote. In 2004, she was dragged from her car 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 more than four years in prison. She suffered bruises and a broken foot.
The highly acclaimed rapper won for best hip hop act at the 2024 MTV EMAs and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022. He announced last month that he was going to be a grandfather, saying his daughter Hailie Jade is pregnant by way of a touching music video that is a tribute to their relationship. Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC.
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