Eminem’s dad Marshall Bruce Mathers has died at the age of 67.
The man who fathered the world-famous rapper died this week near Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Neighbours reported that he’d had a heart attack at home.
He and Eminem had a fraught relationship and had been estranged for years.
According to TMZ, Marshall – who went by Bruce – married the rapper’s mum Debbie when she was just 15 and he 22.
They went on to have Eminem two years later, but split shortly afterwards and he moved to California and had two more children in subsequent relationships.
Eminem, meanwhile, moved with his mum to Detroit with her family, and it was there he established himself as an up and coming rapper.
His father’s estrangement became the subject of many of Enimen’s songs, including his hit Cleanin’ Out My Closet.
In it, he raps the lines: “My fa***t father must’ve had his panties up in a bunch ‘Cause he split, I wonder if he even kissed me goodbye. No, I don’t, on second thought, I just f**kin’ wished he would die. I look at Hailie, and I couldn’t picture leavin’ her side.”
He’d previously said in interviews that Bruce would occasionally call his childhood home while family members were babysitting him, but would never speak to his son.
He used to write letters to his dad but they would always come back addressed ‘return to sender’
More to follow.
