Debbie Nelson, rapper Eminem’s mother, has died. She was 69.

PEOPLE can confirm that Nelson died of complications from lung cancer on Monday evening, December 2nd, in St. Joseph, Missouri. TMZ was first to report the news of Nelson’s death.

Several media outlets first reported on her illness in September.

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Born in 1955 on a military base in Kansas, Nelson said she grew up in a “big dysfunctional family,” according to her 2008 memoir. My son Marshall, my son Eminem. Her parents separated before she turned 10, she wrote in the book, leaving her, the eldest of five children, with the responsibility of supporting the family.

At the age of 16, she married Eminem’s father, Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. Two years later, she welcomed the “Lose Yourself” rapper in 1972.

Eminem, 52, and Nelson have had a difficult relationship throughout their lives. He apparently called her out in his 2002 song “Cleanin’ Out My Closet,” which led to Nelson suing her son for $11 million for defamation.

ABC News reported that while the judge ruled in her favor, Nelson was only awarded $25,000 of the $11 million she sought. Ultimately, she was only entitled to about $1,600 after legal fees.

Nelson considered reconciling with Eminem in a 2008 interview The Village Voice. “There is hope for everyone,” she said at the time. “It’s basically about swallowing your pride. It’s like a cashed check. It’s over, it’s done. You have to keep going.”

When the rapper released “Headlights” in 2013, fans speculated that it was his apology to Nelson. “And I’m angry that I didn’t get the chance to thank you for being my mother and my father,” he sings in part of the song. “So Mom, please accept this as a tribute I wrote on this jet.”

She celebrated her son from afar for the past few years. When he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, she congratulated him online.

“Marshall, I want to say I couldn’t let this day pass without congratulating you on your induction into the Hall of Fame,” she said in a now-deleted video.

“I love you very much. I knew you could do it. It’s been a long road,” Nelson added at the time. “I’m very, very proud of you.”

Eminem’s estranged father died in 2019 at the age of 67. In addition to Eminem, Nelson is survived by son Nathan Mathers.