John L. Nelson

John Lewis Nelson (June 29, 1916 – August 25, 2001) was a jazz musician. He is best known as the father of the musician Prince.

Life

Nelson was born in Louisiana and traveled to Minneapolis to become a musician in 1948. Playing the piano, he used Prince Rogers as a stage name and started The Prince Rogers Trio with local musicians.

In 1956, he met Matti Shaw (1933-2002) at a show on Minneapolis's Northside. Shaw was an aspiring Minnesota jazz musician who became the musical group's singer. Nelson married her and fathered two children, Prince Rogers in 1958, who was named after his father's stage name, and daughter Tika Evene (usually known as Tyka) in 1960. When Nelson's career failed in late 1960, the couple became estranged and formally separated in 1966.

Nelson died on August 25, 2001, aged 85, in his home in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Children

Before marrying Matti Shaw, Nelson was in an on-off relationship with a woman whom he left in 1954. With her, he fathered four children: Sharon L. in 1942, Lorna L. (1943-2006), Norrine in 1947, John R. in 1948. With another woman Nelson also fathered Duane J. in 1958.

Work with Prince

Nelson was a large influence on Prince's music, and wrote or co-wrote some music which was released by his son in the 1980s, although with some of these songs Prince had given Nelson a co-writing credit for using chord sequences his father often used, rather than Nelson actually -co-writing the songs with Prince.

ASCAP credits, or co-credits, him with the following:

• "Father's Song" and "Purple Rain Cues", from the film Purple Rain, 1984
• "Computer Blue" from the Purple Rain album and film, 1984
• "Around The World In A Day" and "The Ladder", from the album Around The World In A Day, 1985
• "Christopher Tracy's Parade" and "Under The Cherry Moon" from the album Parade, 1986
• "Under The Cherry Moon Cues" from the film Under The Cherry Moon, 1986
• "Scandalous!" from the Batman album and film, 1989