Who Is Eminem's Mom? All About Debbie Nelson

Debbie Nelson most recently congratulated Eminem on his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction

Despite the public turmoil that’s transpired between her and Eminem over the years, Debbie Nelson is a proud mom at heart.

The eldest of five children, Nelson was forced to grow up quickly. Her parents married young (Betty Nelson married Bob Nelson at 14 years old and had Debbie at 15) and relied heavily on Nelson to help provide for the family. By age 11, Nelson would go alone to collect “surplus food” and was put in charge of “keeping the house, caring for my brothers, cooking and cleaning,” she wrote in her memoir My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem.

Like her mother, Nelson became a first-time mom early in life and welcomed a son when she was 18. Eminem was born Marshall Bruce Mathers III on Oct. 17, 1972, in Saint Joseph, Missouri.

Throughout the rapper’s decades-long career, the mother-son duo have sustained a rocky relationship. However, things reached a boiling point when Eminem slammed Nelson in his 2002 song “Cleanin’ Out My Closet." The lyrics led Nelson to file a $11 million defamation lawsuit against her son.

Then, in 2013, Eminem released “Headlights,” which was interpreted as a heartfelt and public apology to Nelson. “I went in headfirst, never thinking about who what I said hurt/My mom probably got it the worst,” he raps.

Elsewhere in the song, he says, “And I’m mad I didn’t get the chance to thank you for being my mom and my dad/So Mom, please accept this as a tribute I wrote on this jet.”

In an interview with Village Voice, Nelson touched on the possibility of reconciliation with Eminem.

“I’m not ever gonna give up on my kids. I won’t give up on anybody,” she told the outlet. “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.”

From her upbringing to her relationship with the artist, here's everything to know about Eminem’s mom, Debbie Nelson.

She was born on a military base

Nelson opened up about her turbulent and abusive upbringing in her 2008 memoir My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem. Her father was in the Air Force, and her mother worked as a bartender at a dance club. Nelson was born in 1955 on a military base in Kansas, though her family — including her two younger brothers — later settled down in Saint Joseph, Missouri.

Nelson said she grew up in a “large dysfunctional family.” Her parents split in 1964 when her mother welcomed a daughter with another man. Nelson wrote that her relationship with her father became strained after he remarried and adopted his wife’s two children, one of whom shared her name.

“One of them was called Debbie, just like me. That broke my heart,” she revealed. “It meant there were two Debbie Nelsons, and he obviously preferred his adopted daughter to me. He turned his back on us completely, acting as though we didn’t exist.”

In her memoir, Nelson recalled how she and her siblings began sleeping on the porch to escape their stepfather’s abusive behavior. Eventually, she realized that her only way out was to run away and get married.

Her first marriage was at age 16

Nelson wed her high school sweetheart, Marshall Bruce Mathers, on Sept. 20, 1970. The pair hung out in the same friend group, though their relationship was initially strictly platonic.

“Romantically, I thought he was way out of my league,” Nelson revealed in her memoir.

“But after he had rescued me from my stepfather, we started talking about our hopes and dreams for the future,” she continued. “I told him I prayed every night for a better life. All I ever wanted was a husband who loved me, a nice home, and a big brood of children. Bruce felt the same.”

The pair eventually went their separate ways after Eminem’s birth.

She almost died while giving birth to Eminem

72 hours into labor, Nelson began experiencing seizures and losing consciousness as a result of toxicoma blood poisoning. She went into a coma soon after delivering her first child, Marshall Bruce Mathers III, and didn’t wake until “several days” later.

“The labor pains began in earnest,” she wrote in My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem. “I remember holding a nurse’s hand and counting spots on the ceiling to take my mind off of the contractions.”

Nelson said she wasn’t offered an emergency c-section and that a nurse told her she and the baby were “going to die if you don’t push.” She recalled waking up in the recovery room to a priest praying over her.

Eminem was born on Oct. 17, 1972, and weighed 5 lbs, 2 oz. He was named after his paternal grandfather.

“From the moment he was born, my son Marshall was a beautiful actor. He knew exactly how to look at me from under his long dark eyelashes and put on a show,” Nelson shared.

She welcomed her second son in 1986

Eminem was 13 years old when he was promoted to big brother. At the time, Nelson was dating a man named Fred Sarma Jr., who also served as a father figure to Eminem, she wrote in her book.

Nathan Samra-Mathers was born on Feb. 3, 1986, but by then, his father, Fred, was out of the picture.

“Nathan never understood why Fred had been so good to Marshall but didn’t want to know him. I couldn’t explain it to him either. I too was hurt that Fred had abandoned us,” Nelson said.

Like his big brother, Nathan has dabbled in the music industry. He and his wife tied the knot in 2018, and share three children. Nathan was also at Super Bowl LVI in 2022 to watch Eminem's halftime performance.

She sued Eminem for defamation of character

Eminem and his mother’s relationship has weathered many storms over the years, including in 1999 when she sued her son for defamation of character over lyrics on his debut album, The Slim Shady LP.

ABC News reported that while the judge ruled in her favor, Nelson was only granted $25,000 of the $11 million dollars she asked for. Ultimately, she was only entitled to about $1,600 after lawyer fees.

She celebrates Eminem from afar

While Nelson wasn’t physically in attendance for her son’s 2022 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, she took a moment to celebrate his career milestone publicly. In a video posted to X (formerly known as Twitter), Nelson shared how proud she was of her firstborn son and his major accomplishment.

"Marshall, I want to say, I could not let this day go by without congratulating you on your induction into the Hall of Fame," she said in the since-deleted clip. "I love you very much. I knew you'd get there. It's been a long ride. I'm very, very proud of you.”

Nelson also gave Eminem’s daughter Hailie a brief shout-out, and applauded her on the success of her podcast. “God bless you guys. I love you very much,” she concluded.

She has six grandchildren

Between her two sons, Nelson is a grandmother of six. Eminem shares three children with his ex-wife Kim Scott: Hailie Jade Scott, Alaina Scott and Stevie Laine Scott.

The rapper welcomed his daughter, Hailie, on Dec. 25, 1995, in Detroit, Michigan. In the early 2000s, he legally adopted his niece, Alaina, following the death of her biological mother (Kim’s sister, Dawn Scott) due to a suspected drug overdose. Eminem legally adopted Stevie, whom Kim welcomed between her two marriages to Eminem, in 2005.

Meanwhile, Nathan is also a father of three. He shares a daughter and two sons with his wife.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.