For many, the death of superstar Prince is still surreal. Many have described the feeling as if a family member has passed. But for Prince’s closest living relative, his sister Tyka Nelson, 55, she’s showing support to all those who have supported her famous brother for decades.
Seen outside of Prince’s Paisley Park compound, Tyka was handing out roses to all those mourning saying, “Thanks for loving him y’all. He loved you all.”
After Tyka, Prince’s closest relatives are his three half-sisters and four half-brothers.
His father John had three daughters and two sons from his marriage to Vivian Nelson – Lorna, Norrine, Sharon, Duane, and John.
Lorna passed away in 2006 and in 2011 her brother Duane died.
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Then, after her divorce from John, Prince’s mother Mattie remarried and gave birth to two sons, Omarr and Alfred.
In a 2008 interview with City Pages, Tyka talked about her drug addiction, as well as her early years with a pre-fame Prince. Tyka is admittedly a former crack addict who turned to prostitution to support her two young sons before entering rehab and getting clean in 2003.
She started smoking weed at the age of 13, saying of her decision; “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.”
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She ran away to Los Angeles soon after she said, just as her brother’s career began to take off in the music industry. She also spoke about one particularly low moment when she began selling her possessions in order to buy drugs.
“I pawned the car Prince had given me and sold the kids’ TV for drugs,” said Tyka.
Tyka tried to break into the music industry on her own in California but it didn’t work out for her she said.
She revealed that growing up she and her brother would often play music with their parents, who were both successful jazz musicians, a somewhat similar story to that of his movie, Purple Rain.
Tyka would sing while Prince would play the piano, the same way her mother sang while her father played the piano.
Tyka said she was writing music by the age of 10 but said she had trouble getting over her shyness about performing following an incident where she was teased as a child.
Tyka will be awarded her brother’s $300 Million (and growing) estate if he did not leave behind a will. Under Minnesota state law, the wealth of an unmarried individual with no children goes to their grandparents, parents and siblings.
Prince’s net worth of is expected to grow by millions over the next few weeks because of…
…increased sales following his death. Experts are saying it can easily reach $800 million over the next few months.
Prince also signed a deal with Tidal granting them exclusive rights to stream his music last year for an undisclosed amount. Meanwhile, his catalog is worth over $500 million according to his manager Owen Husney since he owned his publishing and master recordings.
Prince’s sisters and close friends are continually in our hearts and prayers.
As far as the cause of death of Prince, autopsy results have not been concluded yet. As soon as they are released, you will find them here.
