John Lewis Nelson (June 29, 1916 – August 25, 2001),^[1] also known as his stage name Prince Rogers, was an American jazz musician and songwriter. He was the father of musicians Prince and Tyka Nelson and a credited co-writer on some of his son's songs.

Personal life

Nelson was born in Webster Parish, Louisiana, one of five children born to Carrie (Jenkins) and Clarence Nelson. He traveled to Minneapolis to become a musician in 1948. Playing the piano, Nelson used "Prince Rogers" as a stage name and started a band called "The Prince Rogers Trio" with local musicians.

In 1956, he met Mattie Della Shaw (November 11, 1933 – February 15, 2002) at a show on the north side of Minneapolis. Shaw was a jazz musician who became the musical group's singer. She had one son, Alfred Frank Alonzo Jackson (July 6, 1953 – August 29, 2019).^[2] Nelson married Shaw on August 31, 1957,^[3] and the couple had two more children, Prince^[4] (1958–2016, a musician who was named after his father's stage name) and Tyka Nelson (born 1960, a singer). The couple formally separated in 1965 and were divorced on September 24, 1968.^[3]

John Nelson's grandfather, Rev. Edward "Ed." Nelson was born to a White slaveowner, John Nelson and his Cherokee concubine. Rev. Ed became a travelling preacher for the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church and married Emma, a Black woman.

Death

Nelson died on August 25, 2001, aged 85, in his home in Chanhassen, Minnesota. That year Prince dedicated Joni Mitchell’s song "A Case of U", on his One Nite Alone... album, to his father.

Collaboration with Prince

John L. Nelson wrote (or co-wrote) some music which was released by Prince in the 1980s.^[5]

References