WHEN DOVES CRY

Prince Dead at 57

The Grammy winner was hospitalized last week, but released after only three hours.
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On Thursday, one week after Prince was briefly hospitalized in Illinois, the Grammy- and Oscar-winning singer-songwriter was found dead at his Paisley Park compound in suburban Minneapolis. He was 57.

“It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer, Prince Rogers Nelson, has died at his Paisley Park residence this morning at the age of 57,” the artist's U.K. publicist Anna Meacham confirmed in a statement. “There are no further details as to the cause of death at this time.”

Worries about Prince’s health were seemingly assuaged last week when the Purple Rain mastermind returned to his Paisley Park compound, and even performed at a party nearby, after being treated at an Illinois hospital. Earlier in the month, the musician had canceled two planned performances that were part of his Piano & a Microphone.

TMZ was the first to report the tragic news on Thursday morning, with sources telling the outlet that the musician had “been battling a bad bout of flu.” Police have since confirmed that they are investigating the death.

In 1991, Prince’s father, a pianist/songwriter, famously explained why he gave his son such a regal title, telling A Current Affair, “I named my son Prince because I wanted him to do everything I wanted to do.” And despite childhood health issues—Prince told Tavis Smiley that he was “born epileptic” and suffered seizures—the musician went on to do just that.

Over his 35-year-plus career, the artist born Prince Rogers Nelson released 39 solo studio albums, won seven Grammys, earned 30 nominations, and was declared one of the greatest musical talents of his generation. Prince reached musical-icon status with the release of 1984’s Purple Rain, which coincided with the film of the same name. The album—which featured hit singles “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy”—sold over 13 million copies in the U.S., earned two Grammys, beat out Michael Jackson’s Thriller for favorite pop/rock album at the 1985 American Music Awards, and won him an Oscar.

Nicknamed both “His Royal Badness” and the “Purple One,” Prince was famous for his wide-ranging vocal range, flamboyant wardrobe and performance style, prolificacy, and mastery of multiple instruments including guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums. Prince was also beloved for his mythic and mysterious persona, a rarity in the Internet age, which he carefully maintained by shunning most press and abstaining from social media.

In addition to his many musical contributions, Prince memorably took on the music industry in the early 90s during a dispute with Warner Bros. over the control of his output. During the period, Prince changed his name to the unpronounceable love symbol—meaning that he was commonly referred to as “the artist formerly known as Prince.” At the time, he explained, “The first step I have taken toward the ultimate goal of emancipation from the chains that bind me to Warner Bros. was to change my name from Prince to the Love Symbol.”

He continued, “Prince is the name that my mother gave me at birth. Warner Bros. took the name, trademarked it, and used it as the main marketing tool to promote all of the music that I wrote. . . . I became merely a pawn used to produce more money for Warner Bros. . . . I was born Prince and did not want to adopt another conventional name. The only acceptable replacement for my name, and my identity, was the Love Symbol, a symbol with no pronunciation, that is a representation of me and what my music is about.”

Prince was similarly celebrated for his live performances, including his powerhouse 2007 Super Bowl halftime show in Miami. Underneath a coincidental downpour and bathed in purple light, Prince performed “Purple Rain” for 140 million television viewers, reportedly the largest audience of his life. The show was so incredible that it still ranks among the best-ever halftime shows.

Despite his professional success, Prince’s personal life was riddled with tragedy over the years. Both of his marriages—to backup singer Mayte Garcia and Manuela Testolini—ended in divorce. In 1996, Garcia gave birth to Prince’s only son—Boy Gregory, who suffered from Pfeiffer syndrome and died a week after his birth. Prince never spoke about his son’s death, explaining before Boy Gregory was born, “Whenever we give birth to our children, the world won’t know their names, their sex, anything. Our child has to make those decisions.”

In a rare interview with Larry King in 1999, Prince explained why he shies away from publicity, saying, “I wanted my music to speak loudest for me.”

Although he was lauded for merging musical genres including funk, jazz, and disco, Prince refused to categorize his sound. “I really I don’t like categories, but the only thing I can think of [to describe my music] is inspirational and I think that music from the heart falls right into that category. Ultimately all music can be inspirational, and that’s why it is so important to let your gift be guided by something more clear. . . to use your gift in a creative fashion is the best thing you can do.”

Prince continued creating and pushing himself until the very end—releasing four full-length albums since 2014 with his band, 3rd Eye Girl. The musician said he even imagined his final Piano & a Microphone tour as a means to improve as a performer.

“I’m doing it to challenge myself, like tying one hand behind my back, not relying on the craft that I’ve known for 30 years,” Prince told The Guardian last year. “I won’t know what songs I’m going to do when I go on stage. . . . I won’t have to, because I won’t have a band. Tempo, keys, all those things can dictate what song I’m going to play next. . . . There’s so much material, it’s hard to choose [but] that’s what I’d like to do.”