Nelly’s success as a rapper has allowed him to support his family and employ others by creating several businesses. But the St. Louis native discovered the hard way that millions of dollars are sometimes not enough to defeat cancer. In 2005, his sister, Jackie Donahue, died from leukemia after a three-year battle. He currently works to raise awareness on the disease through the Jes Us 4 Jackie Foundation. During a recent cover shoot with rolling out, Nelly opened up about his sister’s death and how he dealt with that difficult period. –amir shaw
You do a lot with your cancer foundation in honor of your sister who died a few years ago. How were you able to handle that painful time period?
You never get over that loss. [There’s] no such thing because [there’s] not a day that goes by that you don’t wish they were still here. To be over something is to not think about it anymore. I try to think about what she would want me to do. She was my big sister and was my everything. She knew me better than anyone. That was rough.
Do you have any advice for people going through a similar situation on how they can find solace?
I don’t know. I can’t tell someone how to come to peace with death. I just can’t do it. … The pain never goes away and some people deal with it differently. When my sister died, I was on tour. I was coming home and I didn’t make it home in time. I called her and I was the last person she talked to on the phone. After she talked to me, she passed. When I got there I was distraught. But I had to go back on tour four days later. And people wondered why I didn’t take the time off. I had to go because if I would have stayed in that house, I would have lost it. That’s a life experience and people deal with it differently.
For more information on donating bone marrow, visit the National Marrow Donor Program at www.marrow.org or call (888) 531-3346 or (314) 531-3346 for more information.
