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Debbie Mathers

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Debbie Mathers
Mathers in 2005
Born
Deborah Rae Nelson

(1955-01-06)January 6, 1955
Salina, Kansas, U.S.
DiedDecember 2, 2024(2024-12-02) (aged 69)
St. Joseph, Missouri, U.S.
Other namesDebbie Nelson
Spouses
  • Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr.
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1970; div. 1973)​
  • BJ
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1987; div. 1988)​
  • John Briggs
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1998; div. 1999)​
Children2, including Marshall Mathers

Deborah Rae Nelson (January 6, 1955 – December 2, 2024), also known as Debbie Mathers, was the mother of American rapper Eminem. She was known for her troubled relationship with her son who mentioned her in many of his songs, including "Cleanin' Out My Closet" (2002) and "Headlights" (2013).[1] She also gained recognition for her autobiography My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem (2007), in which she shared her experiences and perspective on their family.

Early and personal life

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Deborah Rae Nelson was born on January 6, 1955,[2] on a military base in Salina, Kansas, the daughter of Betty (née Hixson; born 1938) and Bobby Nelson.[3][4][5] She grew up in a "large dysfunctional family".[6] Her father was in the United States Air Force, and her mother worked as a bartender.[citation needed]

After her parents divorced in 1964, Nelson faced challenges with an abusive stepfather and eventually left home, and married Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. on September 20, 1970, when she was 15.[7] They were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas Montana border.[8] Their son, Marshall Bruce Mathers III, was born on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri,[8][9]: 17  after Nelson nearly died during her 73-hour labor with him.[10]: 1 

Marshall Jr. abandoned his family when the young Mathers was a year and a half old, leaving Debbie to raise her family in poverty.[8] When Nelson and Marshall Jr. divorced in around 1975,[11] Nelson continued using the name Debbie Mathers, and later hyphenated her surname as Mathers-Briggs after her marriage to John Briggs in November 1998;[12] they divorced in 1999,[13] and she eventually went by her maiden name after her son became famous.[2]

Nelson and her son shuttled between states, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and mostly living with family members, in St. Joseph; Savannah, Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri; Warren, Michigan; and Roseville, Michigan,[14] before settling in Detroit.[15] For much of Marshall's youth, they lived in a working-class, primarily black, Detroit neighborhood, where they were one of three white households on their block, and Marshall was beaten several times by black youths.[16]

Nelson later had a son named Nathan Kane Mathers (né Samara; b. February 3, 1986) with her then boyfriend Fred Samara.[9][2] Nelson married landscape gardener, BJ, in 1987 when her oldest son was fifteen and her youngest son was one.[17] They divorced the following year. For several years, she ran a taxi company in St. Joseph, Missouri, with her husband John Briggs whom she was married to from 1998 to 1999.[2]

In 1982, Nelson sued the school board of Roseville for failing to protect her son Marshall from violence from his peers, which had led to injuries including a concussion. The lawsuit was dismissed on the grounds of governmental immunity, and her son dramatized his experiences in the song "Brain Damage" on The Slim Shady LP (1999).[18]

Relationship with Eminem

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Nelson frequently fought with her son. A social worker described her as having a "very suspicious, almost paranoid personality".[10] Marshall III later became a famous rapper known as Eminem, and Nelson's relationship with her son gained public attention after Eminem's songs like "Cleanin' Out My Closet" referenced their bad connection, criticizing her parenting.[19]

In September 1999, Nelson sued her son for $10 million over the lyrics of his single "My Name Is" and several media interviews, in which he had made allegations of child neglect and drug use.[20][21] Judge Mark Switalski of the Macomb County Circuit Court ruled in her favor and awarded her $25,000, of which over $23,000 went to her attorney Fred Gibson.[22][23]

Eminem attacked the lawsuit in the song "Marshall Mathers" on The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), released in censored form due to insults toward Gibson.[24] On the same album, Eminem dramatized raping and killing his mother on the song "Kill You".[25][26][27]

Nelson released a CD, Set the Record Straight, with Missouri-based rap duo ID-X in 2000.[28] She said that the recording was for her side of the story to be heard without being changed by the media.[29]

In her 2007 autobiography, My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, Nelson said that Gibson initiated the legal action, and she went through with it to stop her home from being repossessed.[30]

Eminem publicly resolved with his mother in his 2013 song "Headlights", apologizing for issues faced in the past.[1] In 2022, she congratulated Eminem for his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[31]

Illness and death

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In September 2024, it was made public that Nelson was diagnosed with lung cancer. Eminem provided financial support during her illness, and there had been reported signs the two had reconciled. She died from complications of lung cancer in St. Joseph, Missouri, on December 2, 2024, at the age of 69.[2] Nelson's younger son, Nathan, wrote "Hatred and mixed emotions today" on Instagram on December 3.[32]

Works

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Eminem Apologizes to Mom on 'Headlights'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Smith, John (December 3, 2024). "Debbie Nelson, Eminem's Mother, Dies at 69". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 4, 2024. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  3. ^ "Who Is Debbie Nelson? All About Eminem's Mom". People. December 3, 2024. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  4. ^ "Nelson, Debbie 1955–2024 Clinton Township, Mich". Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  5. ^ "Ancestry of Eminem". www.wargs.com. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
  6. ^ "Eminem's terminally ill mother Debbie Nelson dies at 69 after lung cancer battle". Hindustan Times. December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  7. ^ "Who Is Debbie Nelson, Eminem's Mom?". People. December 3, 2024. Archived from the original on December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c "Eminem's Biography". Fox News Channel. Archived from the original on March 22, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
  9. ^ a b c Nelson, Debbie (2007). My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem. Beverly Hills, CA: Phoenix Books. ISBN 978-1-59777-596-0.
  10. ^ a b Elrick, M.L. (July 25, 2000). "Eminem's dirty secrets". Salon.com. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
  11. ^ Nelson 2007, p. 69.
  12. ^ Nelson 2007, pp. 139, 187.
  13. ^ Nelson 2007, p. 154.
  14. ^ Frammolini, Ralph; Boucher, Geoff (February 21, 2001). "Rap Was Eminem's Roots and Road Out of Poverty". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2001. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
  15. ^ "Eminem's mom gives her side of the story". Associated Press. November 6, 2008. Archived from the original on April 11, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2024 – via MSNBC.
  16. ^ Bozza, Anthony (April 29, 1999). "Eminem Blows Up". Rolling Stone. No. 811. New York City. ISSN 0035-791X. Archived from the original on February 24, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  17. ^ Nelson 2007, pp. 82, 85.
  18. ^ "The Bully Who Tormented Little Eminem". The Smoking Gun. May 21, 2003. Archived from the original on December 8, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  19. ^ "Eminem's Songs About His Mother Debbie Nelson". Billboard. December 3, 2024. Archived from the original on December 8, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  20. ^ Uhelszki, Jaan (September 20, 1999). "Eminem sued by his mom". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  21. ^ Orecklin, Michele (October 4, 1999). "People: Oct. 4, 1999". Time. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  22. ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (August 8, 2001). "Eminem's Mother to Get Only $1,600". People. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  23. ^ "Eminem's mother, Debbie Nelson, dies at 69". British Broadcasting Corporation. December 3, 2024. Archived from the original on December 6, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  24. ^ Baker, Ernest (February 18, 2013). "When Rap Lyrics Get Censored, Even on the Explicit Version". Complex. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  25. ^ Wartofsky, Alona (December 5, 2000). "Listen Here, Young Man". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 5, 2024. And that was before "Kill You," the song on his recent "Marshall Mathers LP" in which Eminem imagines raping and killing her.
  26. ^ Herbert, Bob (January 29, 2001). "In America; A Musical Betrayal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024. Not even mom is immune. On the song Kill You, the singer's mother, as debased as any other woman, is ordered to prepare herself for sex with her son.
  27. ^ "Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. April 19, 2021. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024. On 'Kill You' he raps about raping his own mother before threatening to kill her
  28. ^ a b Marano, Lou (December 7, 2000). "Analysis: Eminem and his mom – a troubled relationship". United Press International. Archived from the original on December 10, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  29. ^ Reiter, Amy (February 21, 2001). "A conversation with Eminem's mom". Salon.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2024. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  30. ^ Herzog, Kenny (December 2008). "Eminem vs. M-O-M". Spin. p. 36. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  31. ^ "Eminem's mother, Debbie Nelson, dies aged 69". BBC. December 4, 2024. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 9, 2024.
  32. ^ Warner, Kaleigh (December 5, 2024). "Eminem's brother says he feels 'hatred and mixed emotions' after mother's death". The Independent. Retrieved December 5, 2024.
  33. ^ "Eminem's mother, Debbie Nelson, dies at 69". NBC News. December 3, 2024. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
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