Prince's tragic death shocked the world earlier this year, but the musician's sister, Tyka Nelson, told ET she expected it.
Prince's tragic death shocked the world earlier this year, but the musician's sister, Tyka Nelson, told ET she expected it.
"It wasn't hard at all," Nelson said about coming to grips with Prince's death. "It was a two-word phone call: 'He's gone.' And I knew who he meant. I hung up the phone. An employee of Prince called. I have been preparing for two years, so I knew that it was coming."
WATCH: Inside Prince's Paisley Park as the Recording Compound Becomes a Fan Museum
Five months after Prince's death, ET gained access to the music icon's Paisley Park compound in Minnesota, where we caught up with Nelson before the property opens its doors to the public as a museum.
According to Nelson, Prince hinted to her that his life was winding down.
"He said it a couple of years ago: 'I've done everything that I've come to do,'" she recalled. "I was crushed for about two years."
PICS: Inside Prince's Paisley Park
Nelson had a message for the millions of fans who are still having a hard time getting over the GRAMMY winner's death.
"I've had two years to deal with it, but there's a lot of people that have only had from April to now, so I guess I would say give it another year and a half and maybe you'll be where I'm at," she said. "I'm sorry that you're hurting."
While the man is no longer with us, his body of work remains, and Nelson has vowed to keep Prince's legacy alive through his music.
"He's written a massive amount of music and in one of our conversations, he said, 'How I want to be remembered is as one of the most prolific writers in the world,'" Nelson recalled. "So I'm going to do everything that I can to make that dream come true."
According to the BBC documentary, Hunting for Prince's Vault, the legendary artist could have as many as 2,000 unreleased songs locked away in a vault. Nelson intends for fans to get to hear the music.
WATCH: Inside Prince's Paisley Park: Friends and Fans Remember the Late Singer's Enigmatic Estate
"We're going to pull it up and we're going to remix it and we're going to get it out," she said.
When the Paisley Park museum official opens on Thursday, tourists will be able to step inside of Prince's private world, which includes artifacts from the 1984 film Purple Rain, his recording studio and his private diner.
Watch the video below for a closer look at the sprawling compound.
