The father of rapper Eminem, Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr., has died at the age of 67, it was reported.
Family members and neighbors told TMZ on June 26 that he died near Fort Wayne, Indiana. A source also said that he died of a heart attack.
Eminem’s lyrics frequently touched on his father abandoning him. The rapper also blasted his mother in a number of his songs.
TMZ noted that Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, wrote letters to his father, but they were always returned.
He also never got in touch with his father to reconcile.
According to an archive of a Daily Mirror article from the early 2000s, Eminem’s father, a factory worker, said that, “I tried for years to reach him through his mom’s family, but couldn’t get through.”
At the time, Mathers said that he wanted the angry rapper’s forgiveness and not his money.
“I desperately want to meet my son and tell him I love him,” he said at the time. ”I’m not interested in his money. I just want to talk to him. I want him to know that I’m here for him if he lets me back into his life.”
Teresa Harbin, his second wife, added to the Mirror, “Marshall hasn’t seen his son since he was a baby and all he has is one picture of him holding the boy.”
“He hasn’t seen him since shortly after the picture was taken and he would love to hold him once again,” she said. ”But Eminem has made it quite clear he wants nothing to do with him at the moment.”
The Mirror said that at the time, he was living near San Diego, California, and had been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Meanwhile, in 1999 Eminem was sued by his mother, Debbie Mathers-Briggs, for slander for lyrics suggesting she was a drug abuser. In a later Inside Edition interview, she said that “I wish to God I knew why” he said those things about her. “You gotta stop this,” she said to her son, adding, “What have I really actually done to you?”
Celebrities Lost in 2019
Peggy Lipton
Actress Peggy Lipton, who starred in David Lynch’s iconic show “Twin Peaks,” and the 1960s show “The Mob Squad,” died on May 11 at the age of 72.
The cause of death was cancer.
Actress Rashida Jones (C) poses with her father Quincy Jones and her mother Peggy Lipton, at the premiere of "Celeste and Jesse Forever" at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 20, 2012. Lipton died of cancer at age 72. (Danny Moloshok/AP Photo, File)
Nipsey Hussle
Rapper Nipsey Hussle was shot dead at the age of 33 in South Los Angeles on March 31.
Nipsey Hussle and Lauren London in Los Angeles, on Feb. 7, 2019. The rapper was shot dead in late March. (Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images)
Iconic “Boyz N The Hood” director and the youngest ever Oscar nominee for best picture died after spending days in a coma following a stroke.
John Singleton at the 90th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, Calif., on March 4, 2018. (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Peter Tork
Peter Tork of the Monkees died at 77 in February 2019. (Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)
Albert Finney
British actor Albert Finney died in February 2019 at the age of 82. (Lucy Nicholson/AFP/Getty Images)
James Ingram
Longtime R&B singer James Ingram died in late January. Quincy Jones, a collaborator of his, wrote, “With that soulful, whisky sounding voice, James Ingram was simply magical ... every beautiful note that James sang pierced your essence and comfortably made itself at home.”
Singer James Ingram died at the age of 66 after a battle with brain cancer, according to reports on Jan. 29. (Getty Images)
Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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