Published 08/28/01
Obituary: John L. Nelson, Prince's father, dies
-- Jon Bream, Star Tribune

John Nelson, the father of pop icon Prince and an accomplished jazz musician
in his own right, died Saturday morning at his home in Chanhassen. He was
85.

Nelson was the model for a key figure in "Purple Rain," the 1984 movie that
catapulted Minneapolis native Prince to international stardom. He
alsoco-wrote songs on several of his son's hit albums. In the 1950s, he
worked as a plaster molder at Honeywell and as a pianist in the jazz group
Prince Rogers Trio. Mattie Shaw was the singer, but she quit after marrying
Nelson.

In 1958, they named their son Prince Roger Nelson.

In the early 1980s, in one of the few in-depth interviews he gave, Prince
talked about a tormented childhood with parents who fought. Of her 13-year
marriage to John Nelson, Mattie told the Star Tribune in 1984: "I think [we
had] the normal disagreements." Asked once by the Star Tribune whether the
film "Purple Rain" accurately depicted him, Nelson said he never used a gun
like the father character.

Nelson left the household when Prince was about 10 and his sister Tyka was
8. After his mother remarried, Prince didn't get along with his stepfather,
so he went to live for a time with his father. Then he lived with an aunt
and later a friend's family. Prince admired his father's talents but was
frustrated by his inability to get along with him, said producer and
engineer Tommy Vicari, who became sort of a big brother to Prince during the
recording of his first album in 1977. After some success in the music
business, Prince reconciled with his father, who co-wrote songs on several
albums -- "Computer Blue" on the Oscar-and Grammy-winning "Purple Rain,"
"The Ladder" on 1985's "Around the World in a Day"; "Christopher Tracy's
Parade" and "Under the Cherry Moon" on 1986's "Parade," and "Scandalous" on
the 1989's "Batman" soundtrack.

For the past several years, Nelson lived in the purple house in Chanhassen
where Prince once lived. (Prince had moved to another house in Chanhassen).
Prince made sure that his father dressed in style, providing tailored
outfits from his wardrobe department. Nelson reportedly appeared at "Prince:
A Celebration" in June at his son's Paisley Park studios in Chanhassen.

Memorial information was not available Monday night.

-- Staff writer Maria Elena Baca contributed to this report.
-- Jon Bream is at popm…@startribune.com or 612-673-1719.

John L Nelson