Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Mother Says His Death Was “Relief” For Him In New Audiobook

Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s mother Cherry Jones said a weight was lifted off him when he died of an accidental overdose in 2004. Jones, who called her son Rusty, urged the Wu-Tang Clan member’s loved ones not to feel guilty about his death in the newly released audiobook Everybody Loves Dirty.

“Of course, you never really are prepared for the death of somebody that you love,” Jones said. “I know a lot of people like to point fingers when a tragedy happens, and some people lay a lot of guilt on themselves too. Nobody needs to feel guilty over Rusty’s death. These people need to lay their guilt to rest, and the people who are pointing fingers can just put their hands in their pockets. Rusty was and still is a Hip-Hop icon. He was a good friend, was a good son and he was a good father. He loved all his kids very much. He would be proud of them, just like I’m proud of him. I’ll always be proud of him. I’ll always miss him. And I’ll always love him.”

Jones added, “I know this might not be what some people want to hear, but when he died that day 19 years ago, I knew it was a relief for him. I felt it like a terrible weight lifting up off of him. He was struggling. Every day was a battle for Rusty. It was a battle between him and his own mind, between him and everybody that wanted something from him. And when my son passed on, he was freed of all that pain. Nobody wanted nothing from him anymore. He was finally free.”

Everybody Loves Dirty dropped on Tuesday (August 20). The audiobook features personal stories from ODB’s mother, his manager Jarred Weisfeld and bodyguard Jerome Baldwin.

A documentary titled Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys is scheduled to premiere on A&E on Sunday (August 25). The film includes interviews with RZA, GZA, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, U-God, Dame Dash, Mariah Carey, ODB’s widow Icelene Jones, his children and many more. The documentary was produced by Pulse Films and Four Screens.