Eminem has never shied away from confronting the darkest corners of his past, but one of the deepest wounds he’s carried throughout his life is the absence of a father he never truly knew.
Marshall Bruce Mathers II walked out when Eminem was just a baby, leaving behind a broken home and a lifetime of unanswered questions. Raised solely by his mother, Eminem grew up in a whirlwind of poverty, instability, and emotional turmoil. But the pain of his father’s abandonment lingered—and shaped him.
In songs like “Cleaning Out My Closet,” Eminem doesn’t hold back. He raps with raw fury about a man who left him behind, a man who never looked back… or so it seemed. Behind the fame and the lyrics was a child who once desperately tried to reach out. As a young boy, Eminem wrote letters to his father—letters that were never answered. Letters that now echo through his music.
Years later, as Eminem skyrocketed to global fame, the man who once turned away tried to return. Eminem’s father published an open letter in a newspaper, claiming he had been kept away by Eminem’s mother and expressing a desire to reunite. But for Eminem, the damage was done. His silence in response spoke louder than any apology could.
When Marshall Bruce Mathers II died in 2019 at the age of 67 from a heart attack, he left behind a son who had become a legend—without ever really knowing his father.
And yet, Eminem still found a lesson in the loss. In his own words:
“Thanks to my father, I actually learned a lot from you… you taught me what not to do.”
