Attention has always been focused on Eminem’s illustrious rap career and tumultuous relationship with ex-wife Kim. Less attention has been focused on his other family members. Eminem keeps his personal life so private that many people are not even aware he has several siblings.
The “Love The Way You Lie” hitmaker has a half-sister named Sarah Mathers and a half-brother named Michael Mathers on their father’s side, and a half-brother named Nathan “Nate” Mathers from Eminem’s mother, Debbie Nelson.
In 1986, when the rapper was only 13 years old, his mother welcomed a son, Nathan, with her boyfriend Fred Samra.
When he was only 8 years old, Nathan was placed in foster care. Eminem memorialized the devastating experience in his 2014 song “Headlights.”
“When he was taken away I always said if I ever get in a position to take him, I would take him,” Eminem told Rolling Stone in 2004. “I tried to apply for full custody when I was 20, but I didn’t have the means.”
A decade later, the rapper gained custody of his half-brother, who was then 16. Eminem was not just the only brother in Nathan’s life: he was the only father figure Nathan ever knew. Nathan credits Eminem with being a positive influence in his life.
© Getty Images“He was the best role model I could have had to help me be the dad that I am today,” he said in a February 2023 appearance on Just a Little Shady, a podcast hosted by Eminem’s daughter, Hailie Jade Scott.
Nathan bears an uncanny resemblance to the rapper. In his conversation with Hailie on her podcast, Nathan expressed the influence his brother has had on him – especially in terms of style.
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“He would get so many free clothes and buy clothes that I would just take some,” he said. “I would take his hand-me-downs, his huge Phat Farm outfits and stuff that I thought would fit me. What was I, like 110 pounds that time just trying to wear 3XL? [It] fit perfect!”
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Nathan even took to bleaching his hair to match the rapper’s signature locks.
Like his brother, Nathan is a talented musician. In his appearance on Hailie’s podcast, Nathan said his brother inspired him to begin his own musical career. He’s released music under the name Nate Kane. He is also a DJ, music producer and actor.
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“I had learned from your dad, my brother, how to do music and how to write formulas, compound syllables, whatnot, and tested it out in the beginning,” he said. “From there, I started looking around for beats and whatnot and got comfortable enough with my voice and writing skills that I started recording and getting a feel for songs, how I would deliver them and how that would formulate to where people would enjoy it.”
In 2009, he released the song “Slide on Over” — which he later performed at the wedding reception of his niece Alaina Scott, Eminem’s oldest child.
As an actor, he has appeared in the crime thriller Devil’s Night: Dawn of the Nain Rouge (2020) and the music video for former D12 member Swifty McVay’s song “Scariest Thing.” Nathan has also played a role in many of Eminem’s music videos, such as “The Way I Am” (2000), “Without Me” (2002) and “Sing for the Moment” (2003).
In 2018, Nathan married his wife, Ashley Mae Mathers, and began a family not long after. Since their wedding, they have welcomed three children, daughter Audrianna and sons Liam and Carter. While the origins of the couple’s relationship remains under wraps, one of Ashley’s Instagram posts indicates that they have known each other for many years.
© Instagram“In my favorite place with my favorite guy celebrating my favorite number,” she wrote in May 2022 for their fourth wedding anniversary. “4 years married to you. It sounds so minimal compared to the 20 years you’ve been my best friend.”
