Nelly on VH1's 'Behind the Music': The hip-hop star discusses his sister's death for the first time -- EXCLUSIVE VIDEO
VH1's Emmy-nominated series Behind the Music launches its latest season on March 7 at 1o p.m. ET with an in-depth look at three-time Grammy winner and hip-hop superstar, Nelly. The 36-year-old rapper's tale is surely a dramatic one: He ascended from the streets of St. Louis in the late 1990s to become one of the most celebrated performers of a generation, with hits that spanned from his debut single "Country Grammer" to "Just a Dream," which went to No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 last fall.
In the upcoming special, Nelly talks about the ups and downs of his decade-long music career, including his relationship with singer Ashanti, who also sat down for an interview. He also publicly addresses for the first time the death of his sister, Jackie, who died in 2005 from Leukemia at the age of 31. EW has an exclusive first look at Nelly discussing the pain he suffered over his sister's death and how it affected him while he was on the road touring. "Nobody wanted to tell me how severe and how close things had gotten," he says in the clip. "She wasn't telling me the truth, and everyone around her that knew wasn't telling me that, 'Yo, she's not gonna make it.'" Nelly recounts how he was the last one to speak to Jackie before she died, and how he went into a tailspin after he heard the news, splitting a door in half and shattering a television screen in rage. "I just broke down, yo, in one of the rare moments I did cry."
Watch the full, exclusive video below:
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