Eminem suffers personal tragedy as mother Debbie dies

Rapper Eminem has suffered the tragic loss of a loved one, three months after it was revealed she was terminally ill.

Eminem’s mother, Debbie Nelson, has died following a battle with advanced lung cancer. She was 69.

Nelson died in St. Joseph, Missouri, TMZ reported.

The news comes three months after it was revealed she was “terminally ill with advanced lung cancer.”

“There are not many options [for Debbie],” a source told InTouch Weekly in September.

“She is currently staying between the cancer centre and with family members. She has a very limited amount of time [left].”

The source also claimed Nelson’s famous son had not come to Missouri to visit her amid their estrangement.

Since the start of his career, Eminem has used his rocky relationship with his mother as inspiration for his songs.

Eminem had a rocky relationship with his mother. Picture: GETTY / AFP

Eminem’s mother, Debbie Mathers-Briggs. Picture: AP

In his 2002 hit Cleanin’ Out My Closet, the Detroit native rapped about the alleged abuse he endured under her care.

“Now, I would never diss my own mama just to get recognition / Take a second to listen ‘fore you think this record is dissin’ / But put yourself in my position, just try to envision / Witnessin’ your mama poppin’ prescription pills in the kitchen,” he sang.

“Bitchin’ that someone’s always goin’ through her purse and s – t’s missin’ / Goin’ through public housing systems, victim of Münchausen’s Syndrome / My whole life I was made to believe I was sick when I wasn’t / ‘Til I grew up, now I blew up, it makes you sick to your stomach, doesn’t it?”

Nelson subsequently filed a $US11 million defamation lawsuit against her son, born Marshall Bruce Mathers III.

Though a judge ruled in her favour, Nelson was only given $US25,000 of the $US11 million she wanted and walked away with $US1,600 after paying her lawyer fees.

Eminem and his mum had a rocky relationship, but he reportedly helped her financially before her death. Picture: AP

Nelson — who is also mother to son Nathan Samra-Mathers, 38 — previously talked about reconciling with her eldest child in a 2008 interview with the Village Voice.

“I’m not ever gonna give up on my kids. I won’t give up on anybody,” she said at the time. “There’s hope for everybody. 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, the 15-time Grammy winner released an apology song to Nelson titled Headlights.

“I went in headfirst, never thinking about who what I said hurt / My mother probably got it the worst,” he rapped, adding that he was “mad I didn’t get the chance to thank you for being my mother and my dad.”

It’s unclear if Nelson and Eminem made amends before her death. However, InTouch Weekly reported that he helped her financially.

This story originally appeared on Page Six and is republished here with permission.

Originally published as Eminem suffers personal tragedy as mother Debbie dies