Tyka Nelson, the older sister and only full sibling of deceased legendary singer Prince, passed away on Monday, November 4. Nelson, also a renowned singer, was 64.
Though the news of her passing was confirmed to The Associated Press by her son President Nelson, he said it was going to take “a couple of days” for him to know her cause of death.
“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 said in a statement. “Services will be private, and in lieu of flowers, the family has asked that you take care of one another.”
Nelson was a successful singer in her own right, and she released the first of her four albums – Royal Blue – in 1988. Two songs from the album – Marc Anthony’s Tune and L.O.V.E. – featured on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for several weeks.
“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 about the album in a previous interview with the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.
Her Royal Blue album, per The Associated Press, was a “mostly adult-contemporary or easy-listening” project that was “far removed from Prince and the so-called Minneapolis sound. Hers is a mature, romantic sound aimed at 25- to 45-year-olds.”
Nelson was two years older than her brother Prince. She previously touched on their relationship and her reaction to people asking how it felt being his sister.
“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,” she said.
A retirement and farewell concert in honor of Nelson was supposed to take place in Dakota in June, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. But she was unable to grace the stage after she suffered a health setback, resulting in the concert being held in her absence.
“I’m getting older,” she told the news outlet before that show. “I really wasn’t a singer. I’m a writer. I just happen to be able to sing. I enjoy singing.”
Nelson’s brother Prince died on April 21, 2016, in his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota at the age of 57. The Purple Rain singer’s cause of death was ruled as an accidental fentanyl overdose.
