Eminem’s mother Debbie Nelson, who inspired the lyrics to songs ranging from the biting “My Mom” ​​to the heartfelt “Headlights,” has died. She was 69.

Dennis Dennehy, a spokesman for the Grammy-winning “Rap God” star, confirmed Nelson’s death to The Times on Tuesday. He didn’t reveal any further details or comment from the rapper.

According to TMZ, which first reported her death, Nelson died Monday evening at a hospital in St. Joseph, Missouri. Reports of Nelson’s cancer first surfaced in September.

Nelson was 18 years old when she and her high school sweetheart, Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr., welcomed Eminem (née Marshall Mathers III) in St. Joseph on October 17, 1972. A few years later, the couple separated and Nelson was left to care for her son alone. Mother and son moved frequently but settled in Detroit.

Throughout his childhood, Eminem and his mother had a strained relationship – exacerbated by poverty – which eventually became fodder for several songs after he rose to fame in the late 1990s. For his second album, The Slim Shady LP, Eminem references his mother’s drug use and physical violence in tracks such as “My Name Is” and “Brain Damage.”

“She hit me over the head with the remote / Opened a hole and my whole brain fell out of my skull,” he raps in the latter. “I picked it up and yelled, ‘Look, what have you done?'”

According to ABC News, Nelson took legal action against her son over his album in September 1999, claiming he had caused defamation and intentional emotional distress through his lyrics. At the time, she sought $11 million in damages, but a Macomb County judge awarded her $25,000 instead.

Despite the legal repercussions, Eminem continued to use his relationship with his mother on other songs, including 2002’s “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” and 2009’s “My Mom.” The latter is about her alleged drug use and how he has acquired similar habits as a result.

“Valium was in everything, the food I ate, the water I drank… Peas on my plate / She sprinkled just enough of it to season my steak,” he raps. Elsewhere in the song, Eminem describes increasing drug use, being forced to eat as a child, and the realization that he had become addicted to drugs. The rapper, who has long been open about his addiction problems, celebrated his 16th anniversary this year.

In 2008, Nelson released her memoir, My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, in which she discussed her broken relationship and claimed that she and her siblings were abused by their stepfather as children. That same year, she told the Village Voice in an interview that she was ready to make amends with her estranged son.

“I will never give up on my children. “I’m not going to give up on anyone,” she said at the time. “There is hope for everyone. Basically, it’s about swallowing your pride. It’s like a cashed check. It’s over, it’s done. You have to keep going.”

A year later, during an appearance on the music show “106 & Park” in 2009, Eminem confirmed that he was not on good terms with his mother, but said that over the years he had “gained a better understanding of what she was going through “.

Their year-long feud seemed to calm down in 2013 when Eminem released “Headlights” with Nate Ruess, the frontman of indie-pop band Fun. Seemingly a letter to his mother, “Headlights” finds Eminem referencing “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” and pondering, “Have I taken it too far?”

“I don’t hate you ’cause, ma, you’re still beautiful to me ’cause you’re my mother,” he raps, before recalling the tense atmosphere of their home and how his father abandoned them both . He also regrets his haunting song and proclaims, “I love you, Debbie Mathers.”

In 2022, Nelson congratulated her son on Nelson said, according to the report People.

“I love you very much. I knew you could do it. It was a long drive,” she added. “I’m very, very proud of you.”

Nelson was born in 1955 on a military base in Kansas, the eldest child of a “large dysfunctional family,” she wrote in her memoir. After her parents divorced, she took on the responsibility of caring for her younger siblings. Nelson is also the mother of Nathan Samra-Mathers. Eminem was given custody of his younger half-brother and then raised him after Nelson placed Nathan in foster care as a child.

Nelson was preceded in death by her ex-husband, who passed away in June 2019. In addition to her two sons, she is survived by Eminem’s children Alaina Marie Scott, Hailie Jade and Stevie Laine.

Times staff writer Malia Mendez contributed to this report.