When Prince Rogers Nelson was born on June 7, 1958, he was named after his father, John Lewis Nelson’s stage name, Prince Rogers. But John wasn’t the only musician in the family — Prince’s mother, Mattie Della Shaw, also briefly sang in the Prince Rogers Trio.
It was music that first united John and Mattie, who met at a jazz club in North Minneapolis, the Blue Note. Their relationship began when John recruited Mattie to sing in his band, the Prince Rogers Trio, who would often play clubs on the North Side.
Mattie went on to earn a master’s degree in social work from the University of Minnesota, and for over two decades she was a social worker for Minneapolis Public Schools, helping students at Edison, Franklin, Harrison, and other Minneapolis schools.
She also supported Prince in his musical endeavors, and could be seen attending his events in Minneapolis. Mattie was interviewed by the Minneapolis Star Tribune back in 1984 — the year that Prince released his breakthrough film and soundtrack, Purple Rain — and shared sweet memories of Prince being drawn to music as a young child.
“He could hear music even from a very early age. When he was 3 or 4, we’d go to the department store and he’d jump on the radio, the organ, any type of instrument there was.”
She attended the Purple Rain premiere in Hollywood in addition to numerous other events. In September 1988, she was spotted attending one of the first public afterparties ever at Paisley Park, which got started around 2:00 a.m. in the parking lot outside Prince’s studios. “This is his best concert ever,” she gushed to the newspaper.
Photo Credit: Tyka Nelson
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