Prince’s Sister Tyka Nelson Has Died

Tyka Evene Nelson, the only full sibling of music icon Prince, died on Nov. 4 at age 64. Cousin Charles “Chazz” Smith announced her passing on social media: “Our family is very saddened to share the news of my cousin Tyka Evene Nelson who passed away this morning,” and later confirmed by her son, President LenNard Laeil Nelson, to The Minnesota Star Tribune.

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Nelson faced significant health challenges in her final months, with emergency services responding to at least six calls from her Minneapolis residence since September, per The Blast. Her last medical emergency occurred on Nov. 1, three days before her death. Records indicate she battled heart issues, GI tract bleeding, and infection-related pain. She was rushed to North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale, Minnesota, on Sept. 14, with emergency calls increasing as her condition worsened.

A musician in her own right, Nelson released four albums between 1988 and 2011, including Royal Blue, Yellow Moon, Red Sky, A Brand New Me, and Hustler. She had recently planned a farewell concert at Dakota in Minnesota this June, which was canceled due to illness. Her last performance was in 2008 at Bunkers in the Twin Cities, with her final public appearance occurring in 2018 in Australia.

“I’m getting older,” she told the Tribune. “I really wasn’t a singer. I’m a writer. I just happen to be able to sing. I enjoy singing.”

Before her death, Nelson was working on a memoir about her family. In her final Tribune interview this June via Essence, she revealed the book wasn’t finished with “a few more chapters to go.”

She reflected on coping with loss, particularly that of Prince, who died in 2016: “I’m one heck of a grateful person who had wonderful people in their life. I miss their wisdom.” She added, “If I could I’d travel the whole world and meet people that loved him — I’m kind of the last link to him, for some people — it’s like giving back to him. As far as I’m concerned, he stayed because they loved his music.”

In a candid 2003 interview, per The Blast, Nelson discussed her complicated relationship with Prince and her struggles with addiction: “I was a single mother, and my boys were babies. I sold my body for food, money, and pampers. I pawned the car Prince had given me and sold the kids’ TV for drugs.” She later credited Prince with helping her achieve sobriety in 2008 by arranging rehabilitation treatment and supporting her return to music.

Born to John L. Nelson and Mattie Shaw Nelson, who divorced in 1966 when Prince was eight and Tyka was six, the siblings shared a complex childhood. “I was the overweight kid who didn’t have a boyfriend. I listened to other people say, ‘You’re ugly, you’re fat, you’re stupid,’ and I believed it. My brother, he just thought I was crazy,” she recalled.

At the time, she noted having love for the “Purple Rain” singer but wouldn’t let him “spin her ‘in and out of his life.’” Nelson is survived by her husband, Maurice Phillips, and six children: daughters Danielle, Crystal, and Chelsea Phillips, as well as sons Richard Phillips, Sir Montece Laeil, and President.