US world famous rapper Marshall Mathers III a.k.a Eminem has lost his mom Debbie Nelson.
The rapper’s representative, Dennis Dennehy, confirmed his mother’s death to US media. Eminem is yet to comment publicly on his mother’s death.
The cause of death has yet to be confirmed but Nelson was known to have lung cancer. She died at 69. Her rocky relation with Eminem inspired one his greatest hits “Cleanin’ Out My Closet.”
In the 2002 song, Eminem furiously accuses her of drug abuse and neglect.
“Witnessin’ your mama poppin’ prescription pills in the kitchen” he says, before later adding “keep telling yourself that you was a mom”.
Nelson sued her son for defamation in 1999 over another of his hits, My Name Is, but later said it was her lawyer’s idea and settled out of court for $25,000 (£19,000).
The rapper, who battled his own problems with prescription drugs, connected his own experiences of addiction with his mother’s, stating “that’s why I’m on what I’m on ’cause I’m my mom” on the 2009 track My Mom.
In 2008, Nelson wrote a memoir titled My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, in which she said she was “heartbroken” over her son’s claims about her.
In his 2013 track Headlights, the rapper showed remorse for some of his earlier lyrics.
“I’m sorry, Mama, for Cleanin’ Out My Closet,” he rapped. “At the time I was angry. Rightfully? Maybe so. Never meant to take it that far, though.”
Eminem, left, and his mother Debbie Nelson.