Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Prince Rogers Nelson aka Prince died Thursday morning. He was 57-years-old.
According to the Minneapolis’ Star Tribune, the legendary singer-songwriter was found unresponsive by emergency medical responders in an elevator at his Paisley Park recording studio and compound. Unable to revive him, the responders pronounced the Grammy winning-entertainer dead at 10:07 a.m.
While his cause of death is still unknown at this time, he was suffering from the flu and recently canceled a concert at Atlanta’s famed Fabulous Fox Theatre on Thursday, April 7. He eventually made up the “Prince and a Microphone” show on April 15.
Following his Atlanta engagement, Prince’s private jet made an emergency stop in Illinois where he was treated for flu like symptoms. He was later spotted the following day at a record store in Minneapolis and later that night at a dance party at his Paisley Park Studios.
In addition to the tour, Prince was reportedly in the process of writing his memoirs, which was tentatively titled “The Beautiful Ones.”
On a personal note, Prince Rogers Nelson was probably one of the most prolific artists of our generation and was truly in a lane of his own. I was born in 1975 but grew up in the 80’s and he was one of the seven biggest pop music artists of that decade next to Michael Jackson, Madonna, Whitney Houston, George Michael, Bruce Springsteen and Janet Jackson. Some of my fondest memories of him were his films “Purple Rain” and “Under the Cherry Moon” and when he changed his name to the “symbol” or “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.” Those were game changing moments in his career and even bigger moments in pop culture. It’s going to be tough not being able to see him live in concert anymore or presenting at award shows or television specials. Journey on Purple One!
RC will keep you posted as this story continues to develop!
What is your favorite Prince song?
Photo Credit: NPR.org