Eminem’s representative, Dennis Dennehy, confirmed Nelson’s death in an email to CBS News Detroit. No cause of death was given. Nelson had battled lung cancer.
Nelson’s fraught relationship with his son, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, has been no secret since the Detroit rapper rose to stardom.
Paul Sancia/AP
Eminem disparaged his mother in songs such as the 2002 single “Cleaning Out My Closet.” Eminem sings, “In the kitchen your mama testifies to poppin’ prescription pills. Testifies that someone’s always going through her purse and lacks dirt”. Goes through the public housing system, suffers from Munchausen syndrome. My whole life I was made for it. Believe I was sick when I wasn’t.”
In the lyrics of the Oscar-winning hit “Lose Yourself” from the film “8 Mile,” his feelings seem to emerge, referring to his “mother’s spaghetti.” The song won Best Rap Song at the 2004 Grammy Awards.
Nelson filed and settled two defamation lawsuits over Eminem’s statements about him in magazines and on radio talk shows. In his 2008 book “My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem,” he set the record straight by providing readers with details about the rapper’s early life.
Eminem won Best Hip-Hop Act at the 2024 MTV EMAs earlier this month and was added into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.
He said last month that he was going to be a grandfather, announcing that his daughter Hailey Jade was pregnant with a touching music video that paid tribute to their relationship.