Prince’s sister, singer Tyka Nelson, has died at the age of 64, her family has confirmed.
Tyka’s son, President Nelson, first shared the news of his death with The star tribune but no further details or cause of death were given.
A Facebook post from Charles ‘Chazz’ Smith added: “Our family is very sad to share the news of my cousin Tyka Evene Nelson, who passed away this morning.”
Tyka, daughter of John L. Nelson and Mattie Shaw Nelson, was Prince’s only full sister. Sharon Nelson, her sister, told the Tribune on Monday: “She had her own opinion.” She’s in a better place.’
Tyka fell ill earlier this year and was forced to miss her own retirement and farewell concert in June at New York’s Dakota.
Between 1988 and 2011, he released four albums titled Royal Blue in 1988, Yellow Moon, Red Sky in 1992, A Brand New Me in 2008, and Hustler in 2011.
Prince’s sister, singer Tyka Nelson, has died at the age of 64, her family has confirmed.
“I’m getting older,” the singer told the Minnesota Star Tribune before her final show. ‘I wasn’t really a singer. I am a writer. Turns out I can sing. I enjoy singing.’
Tyka also revealed earlier this year that she was working on a memoir.
His last public performance was in Australia, in 2018 with a tribute show to Prince.
Before the 2018 show, Tyka spoke about the influence his late brother, who died in 2016 at age 57 from an accidental fentanyl overdose, has had on his own music career.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, She revealed that she had sought solace in the loss of her brother through his music.
He went on to explain that his first song was recorded as a tribute to his brother and parents.
Titled End Of The Road, the song was produced exactly one year after his death and recorded at his Paisley Park headquarters.
‘That song was my way of telling the world how I felt. And me doing what he had begged me to do all those years, going to Paisley Park to record,” he shared with the publication.
While Prince insisted that Tkya should start her own recording career, Tyka said he refused to invade her space in the fame game.
Tyka’s son, President Nelson, first shared news of his death with The Star Tribune, but no further details or cause of death were given (Tykaa pictured in 2017).
‘I hadn’t wanted to do it before because I wanted a separate (musical) identity; “I knew he could make music, but I didn’t know if I could,” he admitted.
During a 2017 interview, Tyka revealed that he predicted his brother was going to die three years before his passing.
She explained that she “felt” the worst was coming after her music icon brother called her one day and told her he had “done everything I came here to do.”
Speaking on ITV lorraine Regarding Prince’s drug overdose, Tyka admitted that the appearance was the first time he didn’t use drugs and alcohol to “mask the pain” of his grief.
Tyka told stand-in presenter Christine Lampard: “I was in McDonald’s and received a phone call from an unknown number.
‘He said: ‘Is this Tyka? Here’s Prince,’ and I said, ‘After all this time, I know your voice, I know who you are.’
“We were walking and talking and he said, ‘I think I’ve done everything I came here to do,’ so he was the one who told me it was time.”
He explained that since that moment he had been ‘waiting’ for his tragic death.
“I thought I was going to buy earrings for his funeral, I’m going to buy a necklace for his funeral and I’m planning this, I’m telling all my relatives that Prince is passing away, so it took me three actual years from the time I got the call at McDonald’s.
“So when I got the call that he had passed away, I knew right away what they meant because I was waiting for that day.”
Tyka added, “I don’t know if it’s Native American history; we feel things as a people.”
She also opened up about her “struggles,” admitting that she had gone through heartbreaking “ups and downs” since Prince’s death at age 57.
‘I had the hardest time (of all his siblings). We had spent our entire lives together. “I probably didn’t realize it until last October,” he said then.
‘I still have my days, but it’s getting better. I can see myself at the concert, the first time I heard the demo tape.’
Tyka bravely revealed: ‘This is the first time I haven’t used drugs and alcohol to mask the pain of grief.
“This is the first time that what I feel comes out in music, not in drugs and alcohol.”
Tyka and his brother were close in their later years after a difficult period in their relationship when Tyka struggled with a crack addiction.
She explained that when her parents died she fell off the car, but Prince supported her and helped her financially when she went to rehab.
Tyka also divulged the story behind the three beaded braids on the right side of her hair, which symbolize her late mother, father, and prince.
She revealed that when she dies, her braid on the left side will move to join the others on the right.
Prince’s six siblings were named his legal heirs after his death in 2016 with no living children or spouse and no will under Minnesota law.
Tyka, along with Omarr Baker and Alfred Jackson, sold their interests to Primary Wave in subsequent years.
