Eminem's Father Reportedly Dead at 67

Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr., Eminem's biological father, has reportedly died.

Eminem
Getty

Image via Getty/Dave J. Hogan

Eminem

Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr., Eminem's biological father, has reportedly died.

TMZ said Wednesday that Mathers—who went by "Bruce" and was a frequent subject in early Eminem lyrics—died this week near Fort Wayne, Indiana. The report cites a source close to the family as saying Em's believed-to-be-estranged father died following an at-home heart attack.

In 2001, Mathers told the Mirror he wasn't "interested in [Eminem’s] money" but wanted to speak with him. "I desperately want to meet my son and tell him that I love him," he reportedly said at the time.

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

On his Eminem Showcut "Cleanin' Out My Closet," Em recalled his father's abandonment, looking back on how his "f****t father must've had his panties up in a bunch 'cause he split." In the same song, he said "I just fuckin' wished he would die."

The song was book-ended years later on the Marshall Mathers LP sequel single "Headlights," a Nate Ruess-featuring reassessment of "Cleanin' Out My Closet" which saw Em apologizing to his mother, Debbie Nelson, and thanking her for "being my mom and my dad."

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Debbie toldMTV News in 2008 while promoting her book My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem that her son "never knew his father," whom she married at the age of 15 and was described elsewhere in the same interview as "abusive" and "hard-drinking."

"I did all I could to make up for it," she said at the time.

Complex has reached out to reps for Eminem and will update this post accordingly.

Latest in Music