Tyka Nelson, Prince's sister, dies at 64
A cause of death was not immediately available, and President Nelson said he doesn't expect to know “for a couple of days.”
AP
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Nelson is survived by two sons, President and Sir, and five grandchildren.PHOTO:AP
New York, 6 Nov
Minneapolis musician Tyka Nelson, Prince's only full
sibling, died Monday at North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, her
son President Nelson confirmed to The Associated Press. She was 64.
A cause of death was not immediately available, and
President Nelson said he doesn't expect to know “for a couple of days.”
Born to jazz musician John L. Nelson and Mattie Della Shaw
in 1960, two years after Prince, Nelson was a singer-songwriter, releasing four
albums across her career, starting with 1988's “Royal Blue." That album
produced her biggest hits, “Marc Anthony's Tune,” which spent 11 weeks on
Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at No. 33, and
“L.O.V.E.," which spent seven weeks on the chart and topped at No. 52.
At the time, she told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, “The
album is basically about love relationships between a man and a woman. I'm
royal blue because I can't find him,” she said.
It's an alternative to her brother's chosen color of purple.
Of their relationship, she said: “The funniest thing is people say, How does it
feel to be Prince's sister?' They don't actually realize what they're saying.
I've been Prince's sister ever since I got here on Earth.”
The Associated Press described her “Royal Blue” album as
"mostly adult-contemporary or easy-listening" material, “far removed
from Prince and the so-called Minneapolis sound. Hers is a mature, romantic
sound aimed at 25- to 45-year-olds.”
Then came 1992's “Yellow Moon, Red Sky,” 2008's “A Brand New
Me,” and finally, 2011's “Hustler.”
Nelson is survived by two sons, President and Sir, and five
grandchildren.
“Born 1960, the daughter of Mattie and John Nelson, she was best known as Prince's sister and worked to keep his legacy alive with his fans attending fan and industry events,” President Nelson shared in a statement. “Services will be private, and in lieu of flowers, the family has asked that you take care of one another.”
According to the Star Tribune, Nelson was scheduled to
retire and perform a farewell concert at the Dakota in downtown Minneapolis in
June. Illness caused her not to take the stage. A few days before the concert,
she said she had a mixtape on the way and was working on a memoir.
Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2016 at
his home in Minneapolis. He was 57. He had no will, and his six siblings
inherited equal interests in the estate: Tyka Nelson and five half-siblings —
Sharon Nelson, Norrine Nelson, John R. Nelson, Omarr Baker and Alfred Jackson.
Tyka Nelson, Baker and Jackson, the three youngest, sold
their stake to a music publishing company called Primary Wave Music, LLC, which
later assigned its interests to an affiliate, Prince OAT Holdings LLC. Jackson
has since died.
Representatives for Paisley Park, Prince's private estate
which is also a museum, studio, and concert venue in Chanhassen, Minnesota, did
not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment.-AP
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