SAD LOSS: Talented musician and star performer Prince first found fame in the late 1970s. Picture: PAUL NATKIN
MUSIC superstar Prince, whose hits included Purple Rain and Kiss, was found unresponsive at his Minnesota, US, home yesterday and was later declared dead, his publicist said. He was 57.
“It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer, Prince Rogers Nelson, has died,” publicist Anna Meacham said.
Celebrity website TMZ, citing sources close to the star, was first to report Prince’s death at the home in Paisley Park, in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen.
There were no immediate details on the cause of death, and the medical examiner declined to comment.
Prince was an innovative and influential singer-songwriter whose music combined pop, grunge, jazz, funk and disco.
His hit songs also included Let’s Go Crazy, When Doves Cry, Raspberry Beret, Sign ‘O’ the Times and Little Red Corvette.
He first found fame in the late 1970s, and over the next three decades became known as one of the most inventive and eccentric forces in American pop music.
Prince, a private person, sold more than 100 million records, won seven Grammy awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
He won an Oscar for the best original song score for Purple Rain, from the 1984 movie, with the music based on his album of the same name. Prince also starred in the movie.
In 2007, he played at the Super Bowl in one of the most celebrated of performances.
The singer was briefly admitted hospital with the flu last week after his plane made an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois.
A source told TMZ that Prince had performed in Atlanta, though he was not feeling well and felt worse after boarding the plane for a flight back to Minnesota.
Prince’s most recent album, HITnRUN: Phase Two, was released in December and the artist had been on tour in the US as recently as last week.
In 1993, Prince legally changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol, but later changed it back again.
He was born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis on June 7 1958, and is said to have written his first song at the age of 7. As well as singing and writing, he played multiple instruments, including guitar, bass guitar, keyboards and drums.
His music was marked by sexually charged lyrics and explosive live performances, while his private life was marked by a string of romances linking him with the likes of Madonna, Kim Basinger and Carmen Electra.
Prince was married twice – to one of his backup singers, Mayte Garcia, in 1996 and then to Manuela Testolini in 2001. Both marriages ended in divorce.
Twitter lit up with reaction from dismayed friends and fans.
“Prince” was the top-trending term on the social media network in the US yesterday, with more than 840 000 mentions.
The post Music superstar Prince found dead at his home appeared first on HeraldLIVE.