Iconic and prolific entertainer Prince has died at age 57 at his estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota, according to some reports, including TMZ. The site reports that a body was found at the performer’s Paisley Park studio and was later identified as Prince. A family member who asked not to be identified confirmed Prince’s death to CNN.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the local sheriff’s office is conducting a death investigation and no further details were immediately available and the cause of death is not being released at this time.
A plane carrying the beloved entertainer, born Prince Rogers Nelson, was forced to make an emergency landing last Friday and Prince was hospitalized with flu symptoms, but released after three hours.
Prince rose to superstardom in the 1980s along with fellow superstars Madonna and Michael Jackson who melded classic pop music sensibilities with R&B for a string of chart-topping hits. Perhaps his best-known work is still the 1984 blockbuster Purple Rain, the soundtrack for the autobiographical musical drama of the same name. Often ranked as one of the greatest albums in music history, Prince achieved numerous hits including the title track and two number one hits “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry.” He would he eventually win seven Grammy Awards and an Academy Award for best original song score for the 1984 film.
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It’s been an unbelievably rocky year for music fans, following the death in January of another legendary gender-bending icon, David Bowie. Vanity, one of Prince’s many female protégés, passed away in February.
Enjoy one of Prince’s early hits “I Want to Be Your Lover” below.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
WOW
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
What a year. Fuck
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Madonna is the last man standing!
Prinny
Who? And whhy it it important that he died?
Captain proton
the rumor mill over the cause has already started
crowebobby
@Prinny: He’s one of those obscure nobodies like Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson that kids like to think everyone knows about. I’ve never been able to picture him actually walking around somewhere in real life, but since I live on planet earth of course I, like everyone else living on the same planet (except you of course), have known about him for the past 35 years.
crowebobby
Damn, 57 suddenly seems so young! To today’s youth, I’m sure it seems like he has been around since dinosaurs roamed the earth, but they’ll know better in time . . . if they’re lucky.
Poncho Sanchez
The 80’s stars seemed to outlast the 90’s stars……one way to look at it. Was a big prince fan back in the day when I was a pre-teen, but didn’t keep up with his new stuff. RIP.
Poncho Sanchez
@Prinny: Pronce was a big 80s player, had a huge string of hits, allegedly bi-sexual (rumored)
Prinny
@crowebobby: nice snark
mastik8
He got tired of the fight and stopped taking his meds. RIP Prince.
Prinny
@Poncho Sanchez: thanks for answering me
Blackceo
I am fucking devastated by this!!! I am still trying to get over David Bowie’s loss and now Prince is gone?!!! WTF?!! And the flu??? The flu took him out?!! As a child of the 80s, David Bowie and Prince are the 2 artists who were most influential in the soundtrack of my adolescence. To have lost them both in such a short span is really tough. Gonna be listening to his music all night. 2016 can really go fuck itself. RIP Sweet Prince.
Hermes
@Prinny: Wow – must be the vaunted depth of my brothers and sisters.Prince dominated the scene in the 80s. He was one of the greatest singers around in the opinion of most people of my generation. He only recently started singing again. He was probably bisexual, and I have to wonder “flu like symptoms?” I tend to wonder if the guy who said that he got tired of fighting and stopped taking his meds might be right.
Prinny
@Hermes: I don’t follow music at all so I don’t know who he is
Bob LaBlah
The saying “you never know how much you miss some one until their gone” applies in your case, Prince. The fact that you and I were less than one year apart isn’t what bothers me. What is bothering most at this moment is how few people that I know are left from the old days whom I should be on the phone with or texting.
RIP dude, you were an original. Damn, this hurts.
NateB79
@Prinny: Sorry that is such a bullsh*t answer.
Bob LaBlah
@Prinny: You really do need to quit being an ass. That is not funny.
Prinny
@Bob LaBlah: I’m really being honest
Terrycloth
After the 80’s I didn’t care much for his music.people make him a rock godmOther artist deaths have affected me much more deeply like John Lennnons .still sad day for prince fans.
Mack
I was reading an article last night where they were saying he had AIDS and had discontinued treatment because of some religious organization he had joined. The article went on to say that he had failed so far in health they didn’t expect him to live the weekend. Guess they were right.
Sad. Too many people make the wrong choices because of religion.
MarionPaige
I hate to date myself but, I remember hearing about Prince and seeing one of his albums in a music store in the early 70’s, long before I heard anything about Madonna. At the time Prince was becoming known in The Black Community, I remember hits by The Pointer Sisters, Elton John’s Yellow Brick Road and Queen etc.
Bob LaBlah
@Prinny: What else but an attention starved silly ass immigrant little queen would put a comment up like that at this particular time? Don’t bother answering, your response proves who you really are and your absence has not been missed by anyone.
Daniel-Reader
Not sad the anti-equality douchebag is gone.
Prinny
@Bob LaBlah: Insult me all you want for being honest
Brian
It’s sad but let’s not pretend that Prince was gay-friendly. He did virtually nothing for gay rights.
He was a Jimi Hendrix-wannabe. Again, sad that he died but he was no icon for our rights.
Stache
Never a big fan but I liked a few of his songs. Lets go crazy being one of them. Talented guy for sure.
I thought he was at least bi sexual. Sad to find out he was such a hateful homophobe and Misogynist. Being black you’d think he would know better then being so bigoted.
joeyty
@Stache: The pre-Purple rain Prince was really talented and interesting. “1999” and “Controversy” and…. The later Prince seemed to be a homophobic snot.
OzJosh
@Prinny: Handy Tip: Go to your favourite Search Engine. (Google is one, but others are available). Type: Prince. Hey Presto: pages and pages of information that will quickly tell you that Prince was a) one of the most famous people on the planet. b) widely acknowledged as one of the most influential musicians over the past three decades. Result: you’re instantly smarter. And you don’t need to appear like a total moron online.
strix1
I would consider Prince an eccentric. He did donate to Elton Johns’ charity, but I cannot find anything else he did for the LGBT community, but I cannot really find anything he did for any organization besides hand out money and “lines of credit.” But I am not surprised from someone who stayed out of the public view. He was a musical icon, a novelty in his era. RIP.
dean089
Devastating news. So sad. 🙁
Bob LaBlah
@strix……back in the 1980’s a teacher in Chicago, Marva Collins, got fed up with the way the kids were being taught while she was a teacher. She quit and took her life savings and started her own school. Prince bought her a building for her school upon hearing about what she did. Cicely Tyson played her in the CBS movie.
Keep in mind, Prince was a private person and that act was not brought to light by him either. I can only imagine how many other acts of silent charity he has done for people on the sole condition they shut up about it because he didn’t want a mob of people chasing after him for donations. He wasn’t the ogre people thought he was.
joeyty
@Bob LaBlah: “He wasn’t the ogre people thought he was.” Did people think he was an an ogre ? There ARE some homophobes (unfortunately) who otherwise have done charitable acts.
Bob LaBlah
@joeyty: Look at it this way: Prince constantly swept Youtube and the internet for his music being uploaded without his permission. In other words, you had to pay. How many other stars do you know of whose nearly everything that they made isn’t on the internet free of charge?
Madonna was infamous for a while back in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s bitching about her music being on the internet free of charge but once her sales started dropping and the popularity of the internet exploded she saw the perfect trade off to keep her name out there and relented. Prince didn’t. If you were a Prince fan like I was that does sound a bit ogreish, or to me it does. Ok, selfish, if you will. Todays laptop and youtube are the turntable of the 1980’s. Youtube is played at a lot of parties and such. Why hire a band or a dee-jay?
Bob LaBlah
@joeyty: To get a feel for how he may of felt here is a perfect example: Bruno Mars made this song in 2014. It has been view 1.5 BILLION times. But in 2014 not one artist SOLD a million copies of any song. Not even a million downloads for a song that year. See for yourself how many times that song has been heard for free. Prince said to hell with that, I want to be paid. And paid he was. Things might change now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPf0YbXqDm0
joeyty
@Bob LaBlah: I understand. I can’t disagree with you on all that. (I just didn’t know what you meant by “ogre”).
strix1
It seems like most of the big name artists realize the money lies in touring & merchandising not necessarily in album sales/downloads since so many download for free or by subscription now. I don’t buy ANY music except from newer artists or those (((I))) feel deserve it (IMO). The rest I steal…but I have to, I am not paying $10 for an album where I only like 2 or 3 songs. Sorry, no, not sorry.
Billy Budd
OD or HIV.
Sluggo2007
I never much cared about Prince. Too much attitude for me.
grethomory
I was at work when someone sent me a text that the Prince had died. I texted back..”Charles, William, or Harry?” My friend re-texted and said let me clarify Prince the singer. I was floored. I remember Prince from the late 70’s and then when I was in college a friend begged me to go see Prince with her on the 1999 tour. It was Vanity 6, The Time, and Prince. When I left that concert…I was a fan. Loved him through the 80’s and part of the 90’s until he really got big into the funk sound, but always respected this man’s artistry.
The big ones of the 80’s are gone…Michael, Whitney, and now Prince. Madonna’s the only big powerhouse of the 80’s still here. RIP Prince.