Missy Elliott‘s parents, Patricia and Ronnie Elliott, influenced her in different ways.
Although the Grammy Award-winning artist grew up with her mom and dad, Missy has called Patricia a “single parent.” Throughout her career, the rapper has been open about the alleged physical abuse her mother faced from Ronnie.
Missy admitted on VH1’s Behind the Music that witnessing it deeply impacted her outlook on life. With everything she went through as a child, music was her “outlet.”
“I said, ‘One day I’m gonna be famous, and I’m gonna rescue my mother,’ ” the “Work It” singer recalled. “I’m gonna get my mother out of this situation.”
Despite the challenges she dealt with, Patricia always encouraged her daughter’s creative pursuits — she would even let Missy write songs on her bedroom walls, per Facebook.
The R&B star shared on X (formerly Twitter) in 2023 that “even through some of her toughest times,” her mom has “always been there to hold” her up, adding, “I will always do the same for you Mama.”
Here’s everything to know about Missy Elliott’s parents, Patricia and Ronnie Elliott.
Missy is Patricia and Ronnie’s only child
Roy Rochlin/Getty
Ronnie and Patricia welcomed their daughter, Melissa Arnette Elliott, a.k.a. Missy Elliott, on July 1, 1971.
The “Get Ur Freak On” vocalist posted on X in 2022 that she’s an “only child” but wishes she “had siblings like” her cousins.
Reflecting on her childhood, Missy recounted her mother and father teaching her to respect them and other adults.
“The old school parents always reprimanded us when we did wrong.. We learned respect that way & it made many of us do right,” she elaborated in a different 2015 post.
They raised Missy in Virginia and North Carolina
Missy was born in Portsmouth, Va., and she grew up in Jacksonville, N.C., after her dad’s career in the Marines caused the family to relocate. While Ronnie served, Patricia was a power company dispatcher.
The “Gossip Folks” artist and her mom noted in Behind the Music that their mobile home in North Carolina didn’t have a bathroom or running water. Patricia also recalled them eating bread with butter for breakfast and dinner as they navigated poverty.
When Missy’s father finished his Marine service, they moved back to Virginia, where they lived in a “shack” without heat, according to The Guardian.
Since then, the singer has returned to her hometown, where a street was renamed in her honor in 2022.
Missy credits her parents for her “vocal style and harmonies”
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Starting at age 4, Missy began expressing her interest in becoming a performer. In a 2003 interview with The Guardian, she shared that she would sing Jackson 5 songs for her neighbors and at family gatherings.
Decades later, Missy revealed that her mom and dad inspired her music largely because the two had contrasting tastes.
“The reason my vocal style & harmonies was different is because my mom was from the church & my dad only listened to R&B,” she wrote on X in 2024.
Missy continued, “In a unique way I found a way to blend the feeling of harmonies in Gospel with the vibe of R&B that became a different feel 🙌🏾.”
Patricia and Ronnie went their separate ways when Missy was 14
Over the years, Missy has detailed her complex upbringing. Although her family wasn’t well off, she still found joy in singing and felt supported by her mother. While trying to make the most of what they had, though, Missy also witnessed Patricia experience domestic violence.
“My father was very abusive, and it was hard for my mother at first to leave because we had depended on him for so long,” she told The Guardian in 2003.
The breaking point happened when Ronnie threatened Patricia with a gun, and Missy ran over to her uncle’s home for help, according to Behind the Music. Soon after, Patricia left Ronnie in 1985 when Missy was a teenager.
Per The Guardian, Ronnie was out one day when relatives came to the house and loaded a truck with their belongings, reportedly leaving Missy’s dad with only a fork, spoon and blanket.
“When we left, my mother realized how strong she was on her own, and it made me strong,” Missy told the outlet.
“It was like I’m free. I’m finally making a choice that I never thought I could do,” Patricia said in the VH1 special. “I said, ‘It’s gonna change us for the rest of our lives.’ ”
Missy rarely speaks about her father publicly and hasn’t given an update on their relationship in recent years.
Patricia enjoys celebrating Missy
Josh Brasted/FilmMagic
When Missy celebrated her fiftieth birthday in 2021, Patricia gifted her daughter a Lamborghini.
Alongside a video of the vehicle, the rapper wrote on X, “Thank you mommy 4 my BDAY gift she got me a SVJ Lambo roadster she said I work so hard🖤💚🔥🙌🏾 I have been in the industry over 25 yrs and only had 3 vacations🙀 but this BDAY is Amazing.”
Two years earlier, in 2019, Missy received a dazzling present from her mom after getting inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
“So many Amazing gifts today i am so humbly grateful😩🙏🏾 a gift from my mommy for getting inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame tonight🥰❤️🤗,” she captioned a video of a ring. “I Love you Mommy!”
Patricia watched Missy perform for the first time in 2023
Candice Ward/Getty
Though Missy kicked off her iconic career in the 1980s and soared to stardom, Patricia didn’t attend events where her daughter performed. Instead, she cheered on her only child from wherever she was watching TV.
The unique tradition changed in November 2023 when Missy was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, becoming the first female rapper to do so. She performed a few of her greatest hits, including “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” and “Pass That Dutch.”
That same night, Missy explained why it took so long for her mom to see her sing onstage.
“I never wanted my mother to come to a show to hear me curse ‘cause she from the church,” she said in her speech. “But this night is so important, and I wouldn’t have it no other way.”
Ahead of the ceremony, Missy revealed to the New York Post how their conversation about the occasion unfolded. “I’m like, ‘Mama, just come on — you just gon’ have to close your ears!’ ” she quipped.
