Arnett Simmons is the mother of the late American rapper DMX, born Earl Simmons. She was born in the early 1950s and is an African American woman. Anett’s claim to fame is her relationship with her son, who was known for his strong voice and deep lyrics.
For a better part of his life, DMX and Arnett did not get along because of all the abuse he suffered at her hands and that of her various boyfriends when he was young. As a result, she was absent and never really came up in most parts of his life until their 2012 reunion. Here is what we know about the rapper’s mother.
Summary of Arnett Simmons’s Biography
- Full name: Arnett Simmons
- Gender: Female
- Ethnicity: African American
- Nationality: American
- Sexual Orientation: Straight
- Religion: Christianity
- Marital Status: Single
- Arnett Simmon’s Children: Earl Simmons, Shayla Simmons, Bonita Simmons
- Famous for: Being the mother of DMX
What is Arnett Simmons’ Age?
Arnett Simmons is 73 years old as of 2022. Although her actual date of birth is not known, it is widely reported that she had her son, DMX, when she was 19 years old, which means she was born in 1951. It was in the United States that Simmons was born and brought up in a predominantly African American community.
Not much has been revealed about her background, and information regarding who are parents are is currently unknown. Information about siblings or other known relatives is also not available or unknown at this current moment. It is worthy of note that her son, who sold over 70 million records worldwide, never made songs about his mother’s background.
Also not revealed to the public is information regarding her early life. It has never been mentioned if Arnett Simmons had any educational background when she was young as a child.
DMX was Not Arnett’s Only Child
Apart from DMX, Arnett had two other children, both daughters named Bonita and Shayla. It’s indeed quite a huge task to describe the kind of life Arnett Simmons had due to the fact that she has been under the radar for most of the period of her son’s accomplishments. Regardless of the situation, one can deduce from her son’s autobiography that she mostly was not part of his success story, at least not in a positive aspect.
In his book E.A.R.L, the multi-platinum-selling rapper made it known that his mother had so many relationships with men, and he was mostly at the receiving end of them all. Arnett Simmons was never married. Or better yet, there has not been any account of her ever being married.
One known relationship of hers was the only one that led to the birth of the late rapper. Arnett and Joe Barker met in the period of the late 1940s. Joe Barker was an artist who made paintings and artworks of street scenes from watercolors then. He made money selling them at local fairs. They had a child together, but they were never married.
At the time she gave birth to DMX, Arnett was 19 years old, and her then-boyfriend Joe Barker was 18, a year younger. She was already a mother of Bonita and Shayla and her two stillborn sons. It is difficult to tell if all her children were from the same father or if they are just products of her various relationship life unknown to the public.
Physical Abuse Towards DMX
Arnett did not have the finest relationships with her son, as the rapper once disclosed that he experienced abuse from his mother and the multiple lovers she had. As described in “E.A.R.L,” his autobiography, her son disclosed that she and her aforementioned lovers hit him, leaving him with scars, bruises, and even missing teeth on occasion.
In addition to his awful relationship with his mother, DMX did not also have a father figure, making his childhood a very unhappy one tainted by thoughts of deprivation and hunger. Interestingly, DMX could never eat because everything was confined in Arnet’s closet until she was awake or until he was allowed to by her.
He came close to losing his life once when he was hit by a drunk driver while he was crossing the street. Fortunately, the injuries were minor, but he could have still walked away with compensation that was put as high as $10,000. However, Arnett Simmons, who spent a better part of her son’s childhood abusing him, refused to file a suit, insisting that her faith would not permit her.
It grew so bad for him that, at the age of 14, he began to wander the violent, drug-filled, and crime-ridden streets of Yonkers because he wished to escape the abuse of his mother and her partners. Her son said he only found solace from stray dogs and kittens he made friends with at the time. His childhood experiences sometimes revisit him even after his fame, as he finds himself returning to drugs when faced with challenges.
Arnett Simmons and DMX Mended Fences Many Years Before He Died
In spite of all that she made DMX go through while growing up with her, he did not hold any grudge against her. Many years before his death, the two reconciled and squashed the bad blood between them.
The rapper had a raw and uncanny talent for music, but he still had his mother to thank for sending him to a boys’ group home, where he worked more on his talent and fell in love with hip-hop.
In 2012, Arnett and her son DMX reunited after being estranged from each other for many years, and they let go of the bad blood when they appeared on the reality TV show on VH1, Couples Therapy with Dr. Jenn. In his healing process, DMX revealed that not once had his mom ever told him that she loved him, and he had never had the “mummy experience.”
Nonetheless, DMX still came around to forgiving Arnett. In his defense of her, he insisted that she had him and his other siblings when she was very young. Also, he claimed she might not have known what to do with him because he was her only son amongst three daughters, but he did not state if his sisters also experienced the same childhood as he did.
The rapper also defended his mother by saying there were many things that she did not understand while she was raising him because, at the age of 6, he had already known some things that he knew his mother didn’t know.
Is Arnett Simmons Still Alive?
Arnett Simmons is still alive as much as we know. Although not much is known about her health status, it is believed that she still lives in the United States and has not said many years after the demise of her known only son.
Arnett may still be alive at the time this piece was put together. However, it is no news that her famous son died on the 9th day of April in the year 2021. On the morning of his death, April 9, 2021, Arnett’s son was said to have lost functionality in multiple essential organs, reportedly his liver, kidneys, and lungs, and was pronounced dead shortly after at age 50.
Prior to the day of his death, DMX was, on April 2, 2021, at approximately 11:00 pm, rushed to White Plains Hospital, where he was reported to be in critical condition following a heart attack at his home, possibly resulting from a drug overdose. The next day, his attorney Murray Richman confirmed Simmons was on life support.
That same night, Simmons suffered cerebral hypoxia (oxygen deprivation to his brain) as paramedics attempted to resuscitate him for 30 minutes. It was revealed on July 8 by the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office that Simmons’ official cause of death was a cocaine-induced heart attack
Where is DMX’s Mother?
Arnett Simmons is still in the United States, where she has lived all her life. Although we may not know her current location, it is however believed that she still resides in the United States and has not opened up to the public about her exact location.
Her last known location was in Asheville, North Carolina, when she visited the headquarters of an online media called Cheat Sheet for an interview a few months after the demise of her son DMX.
Although she was not the only family member invited to partake in the interview, it was gathered that it was in that period that Arnett was able to tell her side story in a TV One special titled “Uncensored.”
FAQs
Who is Arnett Simmons?
Arnett Simmons is the mother of the late American rapper DMX, born Earl Simmons. She was born in the early 1950s.
Is Arnett Simmons Married?
It is not known if Arnett Simmons has ever been married after DMX’s father left the family.
How Many Children Does Arnett Simmons Have?
DMX’s mother has three children, Bonita, Earl Simmons (DMX), and Shayla. She was 17 years old when she gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Bonita. She later had rapper DMX when she was 19 years. Arnett’s third child is daughter Shayla.