NEW YORK (AP) — Minneapolis musician Tyka Nelson, Prince’s only full brother, died Monday at North Memorial Health in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, his son, President Nelson, confirmed to The Associated Press. She was 64 years old.
The cause of death was not immediately available, and President Nelson said he did not expect to know for “some days.”
Two years after Prince, in 1960, jazz musician John L. Born to Nelson and Mattie Della Shaw, Nelson was a singer-songwriter who released four albums in his career, beginning with 1988’s “Royal Blue”. That album produced their biggest hits, “Marc Anthony’s Tune”, which spent 11 weeks on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, peaking at number 33, and “Love”, which peaked at number seven on the chart. Spent weeks and topped the no. 52.
At the time, he told the Minneapolis Star Tribune, “The album is basically about a love relationship between a man and a woman. I’m so happy because I can’t find him,” she said.
It is an alternative to the purple color chosen by his brother. Of her relationship, she said: “The funniest thing is that people say, ‘How does it feel to be the Prince’s sister?’ “They don’t really realize what they’re saying. I’ve been the Prince’s sister ever since I came to earth.”
The Associated Press described his “Royal Blue” album as “mostly adult-contemporary or easy listening” material, a far cry from Prince and the so-called Minneapolis sound. Hers has a mature, romantic sound aimed at people aged 25 to 45.
Then came 1992’s “Yellow Moon, Red Sky,” 2008’s “A Brand New Me,” and finally 2011’s “Hustler.”
Nelson has two sons, President and Sir, and five grandchildren.
President Nelson shared in a statement, “The daughter of Mattie and John Nelson, born in 1960, she was best known as Prince’s sister and has worked hard to keep his legacy alive with her fans attending concerts and industry events. worked for.” “Services will be private, and in lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please take care of each other.”
According to the Star Tribune, Nelson was scheduled to retire in June and perform a farewell concert at The Dakota in downtown Minneapolis. Due to illness she could not come on 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 at his home in Minneapolis in 2016. He was 57 years old. He had no will, and his six siblings inherited equal interests in the estate: Tyka Nelson and five half-siblings – Sharon Nelson, Noreen Nelson, John R. Nelson, Omar Baker and Alfred Jackson.
Taika Nelson, Baker and Jackson, the three youngest, sold their stake to a music publishing company called Primary Wave Music, LLC, which later transferred its interests to an affiliate, Prince OAT Holdings LLC. Jackson has since died.
Representatives of Prince’s private estate Paisley Park, which is also a museum, studio and concert venue in Chanhassen, Minnesota, did not immediately respond to The Associated Press’ request for comment.
