Confirmed: Prince Dead at 57 Year Old — Plus 10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Him!

Nationwide — According to TMZ and other reputable sources, it has been confirmed that the artist known as Prince, (full name Prince Rogers Nelson) has died at the young age of just 57 years old. Sadly, his body was discovered at his recording studio compound in Chanhassen, Minnesota early Thursday morning, and TMZ has already obtained the emergency dispatch call for a “male down, not breathing.”

Details on why he died have not yet been revealed, but it was reported that he had a “medical emergency” on April 15th while returning home from a show in Atlanta, Georgia that forced his private jet to make an emergency landing in Illinois. The very next day, however, he appeared at a concert where he assured his fans that he was ok. He told them, “Wait a few days before you waste any prayers.” His reps later told the media that he was battling the flu.

The Career of Prince

Prince became an international music superstar and legend in 1982 after releasing his breakthrough album “1999.” In 1985, he won an Oscar for Best Original Song Score for the film Purple Rain. Since then, he has sold more than 100 million records during his career, earned 7 Grammys, performed at hundreds of concerts around the world, and also performed at the 2007 Super Bowl in what many say was one of the greatest live performances of all time.

In 2004, he was officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, and performed a legendary version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” to close the ceremony.

His Love Life

Prince was married twice — the first time to Mayte Garcia, one of his former backup dancers, but they divorced in 1999. Then he married Manuela Testolini (who is now married to singer Eric Benet), but they divorced just a few years later in 2006. At the time of his death, he was not believed to be married.

His Religion

Prince was raised as a Seventh-Day Adventist. But in 2001, Prince became one of Jehovah’s Witnesses following what he says was a two-year-long debate with friend and fellow musician Larry Graham (who is also a Jehovah’s Witness). Prince once told reporters that he didn’t consider it a conversion, but a “realization”.

“It’s like Morpheus and Neo in The Matrix,” he explained. He was known to regualar attend Jehovah’s Witness meetings at a local Kingdom Hall, and said he occasionally went house-to-house to discuss his faith.

10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Prince

#1 – He was a vegetarian.

#2 – He was short. He was only 5’2″.

#3 – He once danced on stage with James Brown when he was 10 years old.

#4 – Michael Jackson’s hit 1987 song “Bad” was supposed to be for Prince, but he turned it down.

#5 – He once had a crush on actress Kim Basinger.

#6 – Reportedly, his favorite meal was spaghetti and orange juice.

#7 – As a teenager, Prince played for one of Minnesota’s best high school basketball teams.

#8 – In 1996, his one-week old son, Boy Gregory died from a rare genetic condition called Pfieffer Syndrome.

#9 – In addition to being a singer, he could play up to 27 different instruments. As a live performer, he generally focused on guitar, piano, lead vocals and occasionally played bass guitar, drums and harmonica.

#10 – He was very ademate about protecting his copyright and his image. He has sued YouTube, Twitter, and Vine, and recently had a spat with Apple Music and decided to release his last album exclusively with Jay-Z’s Tidal streaming service.

 

For more details about Prince’s latest album “Art Official Age”, visit www.artofficialage.com