Boy Gregory Nelson (October 16, 1996 – October 23, 1996)
A little known fact about the life of the late legendary R&B singer Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson) was that he indeed have a son — once. In 1990, at age 16, Mayte Garcia met Prince backstage after a show in Germany. They stayed in touch and even recorded a song together when she was 17. At 18, they began a real relationship. They married in 1996. Garcia quickly became pregnant. His song Friend, Lover, Sister, Mother/Wife was written to express his excitement about becoming a father. In Sex in the Summer you can hear an ultrasound of the baby’s heartbeat. The child, Boy Gregory Nelson, was born a month prematurely. He also suffered from Pfeiffer syndrome, a genetic disorder that prevents the skull from growing naturally. He died a week after his birth.
The heartbreak of Prince was evident another week later when he appeared on Oprah. During the tour of his Paisley Park, Minnesota estate, the baby’s playroom was shown, but not the baby. When questioned, Prince said, “Well, our family exists. We’re just beginning it. And we’ve got many kids to have, a long way to go.” Shortly after Boy Gregory’s death, Prince and Garcia experienced another miscarriage. The couple divorced in 2000, partially due to the stress of the miscarriages. Garcia went on to have a daughter Gia, but Prince was never able to produce another child. Prince died of an accidental fentanyl overdose at his estate in April 2016.