Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson has vowed to share his vault of unreleased music with fans.
The Purple Rain singer passed away in April 2016 at the age of 57 from a fentanyl overdose, leaving behind a vast collection of unreleased recordings and music videos.
His sister Tyka said Prince “always wanted people to hear his music” and so she will make it her life’s mission to make sure they are made public.
“I tell people if I don’t fulfil his wishes I don’t want to get to heaven and have him slap me,” she told the Press Association. “He wanted to share his music, a lot like my father. As soon as I walked in the room we’d go over to the piano or the computer and he’d go ‘I wrote a new song listen to it’.
“He always wanted people to hear his music and I definitely would not leave this planet until I made sure his music is out there.”
Tyka spoke ahead of the opening of the first-ever official exhibition about the singer, titled My Name is Prince, on 27 October (17) at London’s O2 Arena. The exhibition, which runs for three weeks, features previously unseen artifacts from his Paisley Park estate including the orange Cloud guitar made for Prince’s 2007 Super Bowl halftime show performance, a Gibson L65 guitar that he used when he made his 1980 national television debut on American Bandstand, a diamond studded cane, and his Raspberry Beret cloud suit, plus more clothes and instruments.
“This is the first time we’ve taken any items out of Paisley Park,” Tyka said in a statement. “I’m so excited to be able to meet the fans and share their Prince stories and give them hugs, and have a cry with them if need be.”
She admitted that it only sank in that her brother wasn’t coming back in August 2016, months after his death, and while she has accepted it “it’s still a struggle and a day to day process.”