- Have YOU got a story? Email [email protected]
Prince’s sister, the singer Tyka Nelson, has died aged 64, her family have confirmed.
Tyka’s son President Nelson first shared the news of her death with The Star Tribune but no cause of death or further details were given.
A Facebook post from Charles ‘Chazz’ Smith added: ‘Our family is very saddened to share the news of my cousin Tyka Evene Nelson who passed away this morning.’
Tyka was taken ill earlier this year and was forced to miss her own retirement and farewell concert in June at the Dakota in New York.
Between 1988 and 2011, she 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, the singer Tyka Nelson, has died aged 64, her family have confirmed
‘I’m getting older, the singer told the Minnesota Star Tribune before her final show . ‘I really wasn’t a singer. I’m a writer. I just happen to be able to sing. I enjoy singing.’
Tyka also revealed earlier this year that she was working on a memoir.
She made her last public performance in Australia, in 2018 with a Prince tribute show.
Ahead of the 2018 show, Tyka spoke about the influence her late brother, who died in 2016, has had on her own musical career.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, she revealed that she had sought comfort in her brother’s loss though his music.
She went on to explain that her first song was recorded as tribute to her brother and their parents.
Titled End Of The Road, the song was produced exactly one year after his passing, and recorded at his Paisley Park Headquarters.
‘That song was my way of telling the world how I was feeling. And me doing what he had begged me to do all those years, to go to Paisley Park to record,’ she shared with the publication.
While Prince was adamant that Tkya should start her own recording career, Tyka said that she refused to encroach upon his space in the fame game.
‘I hadn’t wanted to before because I wanted a separate (musical) identity; I knew he could make music but didn’t know if I could,’ she admitted.
