Who Is Tyka Nelson? Meet Prince’s Sister, Who Might Inherit His Estimated $300M Fortune

Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson could inherit her late brother’s hundreds of millions, but who is she? To find out more about 55-year-old Tyka, who is Prince’s only full sibling, continue reading below:

1. Tyka is a musician just like her brother. Music runs in the family. Tyka started to write songs when she was 10 years old, she said in a 2008 interview with City Pages.

2. Prince and Tyka have four half-brothers and three half-sisters: Their father, John, had three daughters and two sons with Vivian Nelson before he married their mother, Mattie Baker. They were: Lorna, Norrine, Sharon, Duane and John R. Nelson. Tragically, Lorna died in 2006 and Duane died five years later. Omarr Baker and Alfred Jackson are sons of their mother.

3. She’s shy. "I'm very quiet," Tyka said in a 2008 interview. "In the beginning, my brother would play the piano and I would sing, because that's what my mom and dad did. And then along the way somebody teased me for even thinking that I could get up there. That stayed with me, and I became very shy."

4. Her insecurity also stemmed from bullying. “I was the overweight kid who didn't have a boyfriend,” she told City Pages. “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."

5. She didn’t always have a close relationship with Prince. “I love my brother. But I’m not a yo-yo. He can’t just keep spinning me in and out of his life,” she told the National Enquirer in 2003.

6. Tyka overcame a drug 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 said in the 2003 interview with National Enquirer.

7. Prince helped her get clean. The singer admitted his sister into rehab in the early 2000s, Hollywood Life wrote. Once she got sober, Tyka continued with her music career.

8. Tyka is married. She and her husband, Maurice Phillips, were married in 2010. The couple has six children together: daughters Danielle Phillips, Crystal Phillips, Chelsea Phillips, and sons Rachard Phillips, Sir Montece Laeil and President LenNard Laeil Nelson.

Prince unexpectedly died Thursday at the age of 57. He did not leave a will. A memorial was held for the “Purple Rain” star Saturday in a private ceremony at Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The singer’s cause of death is still unknown. It could be several weeks until the autopsy is complete.

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