Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Mother Calls His Death “A 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, 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.

A screening of the documentary will take place at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on Wednesday (August 21). Former Tommy Boy Records A&R exec Dante Ross penned an Instagram post about the film, writing, “Excited about this. It was an honor to work on this documentary in multiple capacities, as well as being in it. Directed by Sam Pollard and his son Jason its been a long road to completion.

“Honored to be a small part of Dirty’s big story, he was without a doubt the wildest, funniest and most unique artist I ever worked with. The premier on Wens is going to be emotional for me to say the least. Thanks to 4 Screens, Messiah and Nicole, Barson and most of all Icelene Jones, Dirty’s widow, for upholding Ason Unique’s legacy with so much dignity. The doc airs Sunday the 25th on A&E. Tune in. It’s a good one.”

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