Minneapolis-based singer, and younger sister of Prince, Tyka Nelson died on Monday (November 4) morning, aged 64.
Her death was confirmed by her son, President Nelson, to local news outlet Minnesota Star Tribune. The cause of her death was not disclosed. Her cousin Charles ‘Chazz’ Smith shared the news on Facebook. “Our family is very saddened to share the news of my cousin Tyka Evene Nelson who passed away this morning,” the post read.
Born in Minneapolis in 1960, two years after her brother, to jazz musicians John L. Nelson and Mattie Shaw Nelson, Nelson was the only full sibling of Prince. Growing up in a family of musicians inspired her to also start singing and making music, and over the course of her career she released four albums; ‘Royal Blue’ (1988), ‘Yellow Moon, Red Sky’ (1992), ‘A Brand New Me’ (2008) and ‘Hustler’ (2011).
She was originally set to hold her retirement and farewell concert last June, but fell ill and the concert went forward without her. Her last public performance was in Australia in 2018. In the meantime, she appeared often at Prince-related events.
Earlier this year she also shared that she was working on a memoir. “We’re not there yet,” she told the Minnesota Star Tribune at the time. “There are still a few more chapters to go. It’s about me and my family.”
Nelson’s passing comes eight years after Prince’s death in 2016. The “Purple Rain” singer died at 57 from an accidental painkiller overdose at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota.
In June this year, Nelson shared details of her final conversations with her brother, and his similarities with their family members.
She added that she was not aware of his illness but when she hugged him, she felt he had lost some weight. “A couple of times I said, ‘How are you really?’ He didn’t go into anything with me. That was bothering me, and he knew it was but that was all he wanted to tell me,” she said. “I don’t want to go into that. You’re going to spoil the book. Don’t you want me to make money?”
Nelson revealed that the final interaction between her and Prince occurred four days prior to his death. “He kept avoiding questions. I kept getting mad. I felt like ‘talk to me for two seconds.’ He’d change the subject, make a joke and then we’d both laugh,” she told the publication.
She continued: “He asked me could I find more information about our family. Prince wanted me to find Sharon’s number. I didn’t question it. It was like ‘send this picture to that person.’ OK. What for?”
Nelson is survived by her two sons, President and Sir; her two sisters, Sharon and Norrine Nelson; and her brother, Omarr Baker.
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