This comes as a shock…
According to TMZ and his publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, who told The Associated Press, the artist known as Prince (b. Prince Rogers Nelson) has died at the age of 57.
TMZ reports that his body was found at his Paisley Park estate in Minnesota early this morning (April 21) after authorities responded to a medical emergency. No further info has been given surrounding the events of his passing.
The devastating news comes just a week following reports that the singer was hospitalized on April 15th after his private jet was forced to do an emergency landing. His crew told TMZ he had the flu, and he appeared the next day at a concert to reassure he was OK.
Before that, the musician canceled two performances due to health problems.
Prince’s illustrious career began in Minnesota with the Minneapolis sound with his 1978 debut album For You and self-titled second LP, released in October 1979. But his most prolific album was his 1983 album Purple Rain, his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 in conjunction with the film of the same name, that cemented him as one of the greatest artists of his generation and earned him two Grammys and an Oscar.
In the early 90s, Prince protested against his label Warner Bros. by changing his name to “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” and used the infamous Love Symbol. It was after his 1996 album Chaos and Disorder when he was finally released from his contract.
Over his 35-plus-year career, he released 39 solo studio albums and never stopped releasing new material; since September 2014, he put out four new full-length records with his latest band, 3rd Eye Girl, and was planning to release a memoir titled The Beautiful Ones in 2017. In February, he mourned the loss of his ex, Denise “Vanity” Matthews, whom he also paid tribute to at several of his concerts. In December, he dropped a surprise album called HITNRUN: Phase II on TIDAL.
Story is still developing….
R.I.P to one of the greatest musicians of our time!
