Deborah Rae Nelson (January 6, 1955 – December 2, 2024), also known as Debbie Mathers, was an American author.

She was the mother of American rapper Eminem.

Nelson was known for her troubled relationship with her son, and also gained recognition for her autobiography My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem, in which she shared her experiences and perspective on their family.

Spouses

• Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr., (m. 1970; div. 1973)​
• John Briggs, (divorced​

Early life

Deborah Rae Nelson was born on January 6, 1955, on a military base in Kansas. She grew up in a "large dysfunctional family". Her father was in the Air Force, and her mother worked as a bartender. After her parents divorced in 1964, Nelson faced challenges with an abusive stepfather and eventually left home, and married Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. on September 20, 1970, when she was 15. They were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas–Montana border. Their son, Marshall Bruce Mathers III, was born on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, Missouri;  Nelson nearly died during her 73-hour labor with him.  Marshall Jr. abandoned his family when the young Mathers was a year and a half old; he was raised only by his mother in poverty. Nelson and Marshall Jr. divorced in 1973. She continued using the name Debbie Mathers but eventually went by her maiden name after her son became famous.

By the age of twelve, Nelson and her son shuttled between states, rarely staying in one house for more than a year or two and mostly living with family members, moved several times and lived in St. Joseph, Savannah, Missouri, Kansas City, Warren, Michigan and Roseville, Michigan before settling in Detroit. For much of Marshall's youth, they lived in a working-class, primarily black, Detroit neighborhood; they were one of three white households on their block, and Marshall was beaten several times by black youths. Nelson later had a son named Nathan "Nate" Kane Mathers (né Samara; b. 1986) with her then boyfriend Fred Samara. For several years, she ran a taxi company in St. Joseph, Missouri, with her husband John Briggs.

Relationship with Eminem

Nelson frequently fought with her son; a social worker described her as having a "very suspicious, almost paranoid personality".  Marshall III later became a famous rapper known as Eminem. Nelson's relationship with her son gained public attention after Eminem's songs like "Cleanin' Out My Closet" referenced their bad connection, criticizing her parenting. In 2002, she filed an $11 million defamation lawsuit against her son, citing emotional distress caused by his lyrics. Despite their history, Eminem publicly resolved with his mother in his 2013 song "Headlights," apologizing for issues faced in the past.

Illness and death

In September of 2024, it was made public that Nelson was diagnosed with lung cancer. Eminem provided financial support during her illness, and there had been reported signs the two had reconciled their relationship. She died from complications of lung cancer in St. Joseph, Missouri, on December 2, 2024, at the age of 69.

Works

• "Dear Marshall" (2001)
• My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem (2008