Tyka Nelson, singer and Prince's only full sibling, dies at 64
Tyka Nelson, a Minneapolis-based singer and Prince’s only full sibling, died Monday morning, a representative for Prince’s estate confirms to Variety.
Tyka Nelson, a Minneapolis-based singer and Prince’s only full sibling, died Monday morning, a representative for Prince’s estate confirms to Variety. No cause of death was reported; she was 64.
Nelson released four albums between 1988 and 2011 and was scheduled to supposed to hold her retirement and farewell concert last June, but became ill and the concert took place without her. The news was first reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
“I’m getting older,” Nelson told the Minnesota Star Tribune before the show, downplaying her musical ability. “I really wasn’t a singer. I’m a writer. I just happen to be able to sing. I enjoy singing.” She said she was writing a memoir. The opening chapters of an autobiography that Prince was writing at the time of his death, titled “The Beautiful Ones” after the song from his 1984 blockbuster album and film “Purple Rain,” was published in 2019.
Nelson’s last public performance was in Australia in 2018; she appeared often at Prince-related events.
Born May 18, 1960, Tyka was the daughter of John L. Nelson, a pianist who collaborated with Prince on several occasions, and Mattie Shaw Nelson.
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