Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson shares memories of the pop legend ahead of Australian concerts

PRINCE’s younger sister Tyka Nelson has stepped out of her brother’s shadow to continue his music legacy with performances at the Nothing Compares 2 Prince tribute concerts in Australia.

POP legend Prince was always looking for new artists to work with and those included his younger sister Tyka.

Fearful of comparisons with her wildly successful brother, no doubt because of some uncanny similarities in their vocals, she was determined to try establishing a music career on her own.

After releasing four albums between 1988 and 2011, the Purple Rain rock god’s younger sibling now finds herself maintaining his legacy and singing his songs at the world premiere of the Nothing Compares 2 Prince tribute concerts in Australia this weekend.

Tyka Nelson will sing at the Nothing Compares 2 Prince concerts. Picture: Supplied

Nelson, who said she is “very, very, very involved” in the rollout of unreleased songs from his mythical Vault, arrives in Australia as the investigation into her brother’s death ruled there would be no criminal charges in relation to his opioid overdose.

His heirs have subsequently launched a wrongful-death lawsuit against Walgreens and Trinity Medical Center in Moline, Illinois, for allegedly failing to provide the singer with the care they say he needed during an overdose before his death on April 21 two years ago.

While Tyka Nelson admits she often feels “overwhelmed” dealing with matters involving his estate, she said she finds comfort in his music and the stories shared by fans.

And sharing her own. Nelson finally made music at her brother’s legendary Paisley Park complex a year after his death, recording a tribute to him and their parents called End of the Road.

Prince’s sister finally recorded at her brother’s Paisley Park HQ last year. Picture: AFP/Bertrand Guay

“That song was my way of telling the world how I was feeling. And me doing what he had begged me to do all those years, to go to Paisley Park to record,” Nelson said.

“I hadn’t wanted to before because I wanted a separate (musical) identity; I knew he could make music but didn’t know if I could.

“When I was making my first record, I wouldn’t let him come to my sessions and he was not happy. He found out about the session — his keyboardist Ricky was in that session and David Z was producer.

“He calls up the studio and says he is right around the corner from the studio with Sheila E and I was ‘Don’t you come in here!’

“When he first met my husband, he told him ‘Well I hope she listens to you because she doesn’t listen to me’.”

Bassist Nik West stars in the Nothing Compares 2 Prince line up. Picture: Instagram

The Nothing Compares 2 Prince shows features a collective of musicians and singers who worked with Prince in bands from The Time and The Revolution through to New Power Generation including St Paul Peterson, Tori Ruffin, Ricky Peterson, Cassandra O’Neal, Jellybean Johnson, Nik West and Shelby J.

Another line-up of New Power Generation band members also recently toured Australia for Bluesfest.

Nelson said she supported the tribute concerts staged by those who had played with Prince over the decades because of the quality of the performances and the positive response from fans.

“I have been really supportive of it; you hear some negative stuff but these people were the ones he chose to be in his band, they are amazing musicians who he wanted and if anything, they helped to enhance his music,” she said.

“Of course if he felt they weren’t playing something right, he would show them how to do it.

“I underestimated just how good they could be; I got so emotional during the rehearsals.”

Nothing Compares 2 Prince is at the Sydney Opera House on Friday and Saturday, and Melbourne’s Hamer Hall on Sunday.

Originally published as Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson shares memories of the pop legend ahead of Australian concerts