Tyka Nelson – the sister of Prince – has opened up about her final conversations with the rock icon and innovator.
The ‘Purple Rain’ singer passed in 2016 at the age of 57. His cause of death was due to the musician accidentally overdosing on fentanyl in Paisley Park – his 65,000-square-foot estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
Nelson, who is Prince’s only full sibling as they have five half brothers and sisters, revealed the details of her final conversations with the artist in a new interview with the Star Tribune.
In 2016, Prince had cancelled a string of shows as part of his ‘Piano & A Microphone Tour’, citing illness as his reason. His final show took place on February 14 of that year.
While flying back to the Twin Cities in his private jet the next morning, Prince became unresponsive and the plane made an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois. He was immediately hospitalised and given naloxone – which is used to reverse a narcotic overdose. Upon becoming conscious and ignoring medical advice, Prince left the hospital.
Speaking about the last time she saw her brother, Nelson told the outlet that it was two days after the emergency landing and his hospitalisation.
“There was a lady who wanted to hug him and the protector in me stood up — the lady was taller than me — the bodyguards came over and got her. Prince looked at me, ‘What you gonna do?’ So that made us smile,” she told the Star Tribune.
She went on to explain the similarities between the musician and their father, sharing that he played the piano like him, walked like him and shared the same sense of humour as him but added that Prince was “built like” their mother.
She added that she was not aware of his illness but when she hugged him, she felt he had lost some weight. “A couple of times I said, ‘How are you really?’ He didn’t go into anything with me. That was bothering me, and he knew it was but that was all he wanted to tell me,” she said. “I don’t want to go into that. You’re going to spoil the book. Don’t you want me to make money?”
Nelson revealed that the final interaction between her and Prince occurred four days prior to his death. “He kept avoiding questions. I kept getting mad. I felt like ‘talk to me for two seconds.’ He’d change the subject, make a joke and then we’d both laugh,” she told the publication.
She continued: “He asked me could I find more information about our family. Prince wanted me to find Sharon’s number. I didn’t question it. It was like ‘send this picture to that person.’ OK. What for?”
Nelson is set to retire from performing on June 8 after one last show in Minneapolis. She is also in the process of writing a memoir.
In other news, Prince‘s Minneapolis house, which was featured in Purple Rain, will be available to rent as an Airbnb for a year.
Elsewhere, his rare B-side ‘United States Of Division’ has recently been shared to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his 2004 album ‘Musicology’.
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