Prince's Sister Tyka Nelson Performed Her Own Work and Didn't Ask Her Famous Sibling for Any Help

Tyka Nelson, Prince's younger sister, began writing songs at age 10. She and her brother wrote together when they were young, but later on, Nelson chose to establish her own identity. 

She released four solo albums with moderate success on the R&B charts but was primarily a songwriter. She enjoyed singing, she said, but did not consider herself a singer.

Her most successful single was "Marc Anthony's Tune" from her "Royal Blue" album, released in 1988. The song reached #33 on Billboard's R&B chart. To listen to it, you can go here. In the comments, one person wrote, "R.I.P. Tyka! Thank you for such a perfect song!"

"L.O.V.E.," also from "Royal Blue," charted at #52.

Her other albums were "Yellow Moon, Red Sky" (1993); "A Brand New Me" (a gospel album, 2008) and "Hustler" (2011).

After Prince's death, she and her half-siblings maintained his legacy, helping to manage his estate and transforming Paisley Park into a museum.

The image in this episode's thumbnail is the cover art for her song "End of the Road," available on Apple and Amazon Music. You can hear a preview by going to the Apple Music website.

To learn more about Nelson, go to her official site.

This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.

Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email [e-mail] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.  

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation®, available on YouTube and in major podcast directories including Apple, Spotify, iHeart and Audible.