Superstar Prince dead at 57

Seven-time Grammy winner Prince, who was known for megahits like “When Doves Cry” and “Purple Rain,” has died at the age of 57.

Prince was found dead in the elevator of his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, Minn. on Thursday. Deputies and medical personnel found the music icon unresponsive when they arrived at his home and they performed CPR but it was unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m. local time.

A transcript of the 911 call from the compound shows confusion as an unidentified caller struggles to give the dispatcher the proper address. The caller said he was at "Prince's house" but first placed it in Minneapolis. Another person at the compound eventually gave the correct address in the suburb of Chanhassen.

The caller first says he has "someone who is unconscious" before saying "the person is dead here."

As the dispatcher identifies the address as Paisley Park and begins to ask a question, the caller interrupts to say, "Yes, it's Prince."


I am so sad :crying

President Barack Obama called Prince "one of the most gifted and prolific musicians of our time," and said few had influenced "the sound and trajectory of popular music more distinctly."

Born in Minneapolis as Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958, he is said to have written his first song at age 7. As well as singing and writing, he played multiple instruments, including guitar, keyboards and drumbs.

"My heart is broken. There are no words. I love you!"

R.I.P. Prince

A day after Prince's death stunned his fans and fellow musicians, the work of finding out why the music icon died began in earnest Friday.
An autopsy was conducted Friday at the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office in Ramsey, Minnesota, but it could be days or weeks before results are complete, spokeswoman Martha Weaver said. The autopsy began at 9 a.m. CT (10 a.m. ET) and lasted four hours, she added.

That's very sad i like his music.

R.I.P.

Prince Worked 154 Hours Straight With No Sleep Before Death.

Prince was famous for his remorseless work ethic. His brother-in-law has now said he worked for six days straight before his death, prompting speculation that exhaustion contributed to his death. According to numerous reports, his brother-in-law Maurice Phillips has claimed the singer worked for six days non-stop before his death.

If he worked so much he must been taking some drugs.

Prince death investigation reportedly focusing on pain pills.

Prince Died Without a Will

Prince died without a will, according to court documents filed by his sister on Tuesday, potentially causing big complications for that star’s sprawling financial estate and musical legacy.

In probate documents filed with the Carver County District Court in Minnesota, Tyka Nelson, 55, Prince’s sister, said that her brother died without a spouse, children or surviving parents, and that “I do not know of the existence of a will.”

Ms. Nelson’s petition also listed five half-siblings as heirs, and asked the court to appoint a special administrator for the estate “because no personal representative has been appointed in Minnesota or elsewhere.” Minnesota law treats surviving half-siblings the same as full siblings, raising the possibility of a drawn-out family battle.

In the music business, Prince — who died on Thursday at 57 — was known as a mercurial star who cycled through lawyers and representatives frequently, and who often preferred to deal personally with record companies, concert promoters and even digital music services. But that history of self-sufficiency could have severe consequences if Prince did not leave an orderly estate — a strong possibility if no will turns up, several music-industry lawyers and executives said.

“It could be a huge tragedy,” said Howard E. King, a veteran entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles who represented Prince in the past. “You could have a difference in valuation of hundreds of millions of dollars depending on whether the right people get in there to manage the legacy of Prince.”

A lawyer for Ms. Nelson did not respond to requests for comment.

The probate court has not identified an executor, and estimates of Prince’s net worth and of the value of his estate have varied widely. Forbes magazine last estimated his earnings in 2005, when it said that he made $49.7 million before taxes that year.

But Prince’s worth could be much greater now, particularly since two years ago he took control of his valuable publishing catalog — the copyrights for songwriting — and negotiated a favorable new deal with Warner Bros., his former record company. Since his death, Prince has sold at least 650,000 albums and 2.8 million tracks in the United States, according to Nielsen.

Beyond his music, Prince, who was born Prince Rogers Nelson, owned extensive property in the Minneapolis area. Its value is unclear, but Paisley Park, his studio complex in the suburb of Chanhassen, Minn., has been assessed at over $7 million, according to Carver County public records.

Since Prince’s death, music industry executives — including even those he dealt with closely — have been anxiously awaiting word about who controlled the estate, which includes Prince’s “vault” of unreleased recordings. This voluminous collection has long been legendary among fans and collectors, and Prince stoked that interest. “I didn’t always give the record companies the best song,” he once told Rolling Stone.

But who now has the power to make the decisions about the music in that vault is unclear. Prince was known to be exacting in his dealings with record companies, and fought hard to retain as much control as possible.

Ms. Nelson’s petition, which was first reported by TMZ, asked the court to name an affiliate of the Bremer Bank in St. Cloud, Minn., as the special administrator, saying that the bank had provided financial services to Prince and had knowledge of his business affairs.

A bank spokeswoman said it was not bank policy to reveal information about customers, but added that “our sympathies are with family and fans in mourning the loss of a talented musician and Minnesotan.”

In addition to Ms. Nelson, the document lists as heirs three half-brothers, John Nelson, Alfred Jackson and Omar Baker; and two half-sisters, Norrine and Sharon Nelson.

An autopsy was performed on Prince, but its results are not expected for several weeks. A police investigation is continuing.

As fans have swarmed Paisley Park and other musical sites around Minneapolis, the music industry has also been paying tribute to Prince, with executives hoping that the estate is sorted out quickly and managed well. A frequent comparison has been to the estate of Michael Jackson, who was badly in debt when he died in 2009 but had a will; that estate has since earned hundreds of millions of dollars.

“Prince was a major star and a cultural influencer, but he was a human being,” said Kenneth J. Abdo, an entertainment lawyer in Minneapolis. “It comes down to taking care of business. If you don’t take care of it, you’re leaving a mess to the family or the courts.”




www-nytimes-com/2016/04/27/arts/music/prince-died-without-a-will-according-to-court-documents-html?_r=0

Prince's Death Investigated as Possible Drug Overdose

Over a week since the Purple One's sudden death, the Vault has reportedly been drilled open by Bremer Bank, the St. Cloud, Minnesota, institution Prince trusted with his finances over the years. The late musician was the only one with the code, reports ABC News.

It has been said that the vault is a giant room with shelves sealed with a large spinning wheel.

R.I.P. Prince Always Liked You Best!!

We lost a great talent, a genius compared to Miles Davis, Beethoven, and Joni Mitchell ( an influence of Prince ).

Prince was found dead one day before he was scheduled to meet with a California doctor in an attempt to kick an addiction to painkillers, an attorney with knowledge of the death investigation said Tuesday.

Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a national authority on opioid addiction treatment, was called by Prince representatives the night of April 20 because Prince “was dealing with a grave medical emergency,” said William Mauzy, a prominent Minneapolis attorney working with the Kornfeld family.

Kornfeld, who runs Recovery Without Walls in Mill Valley, Calif., could not clear his schedule to meet with Prince the next day, April 21, but he planned to fly out the following day.

So he sent his son, Andrew Kornfeld, who works with him, to Minnesota, with plans for him to go to Paisley Park to explain how the confidential treatment would work, Mauzy said.

“The plan was to quickly evaluate his health and devise a treatment plan,” Mauzy said, speaking on behalf of the Kornfelds. “… The doctor was planning on a lifesaving mission.”

Several other sources with direct knowledge of the investigation confirmed Mauzy’s account. Calls and e-mails to the Kornfelds were not returned Tuesday evening.

Andrew Kornfeld was expected to meet with Prince early Thursday after taking a red-eye flight from San Francisco the night Prince’s representatives called, Mauzy said.

When Andrew Kornfeld arrived at Paisley Park at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Prince’s representatives could not find him, Mauzy said. Andrew Kornfeld was one of three people at Paisley Park when the musician’s body was found in an elevator a few minutes later — and it was Andrew Kornfeld who called 911.

Mauzy said that Andrew Kornfeld told him that the others “screamed” when they found Prince and “were in too much shock” to call 911.

Unfamiliar with Paisley Park, Andrew Kornfeld simply told the dispatcher, “We’re at Prince’s house.”

Asked again to give an address, he said simply: “The people are just distraught. … We’re in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and we are at the home of Prince.”

Emergency responders arrived within five minutes. Prince was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m., 19 minutes after responders arrived.

Authorities said Prince was alone when his body was found. Foul play and suicide are not suspected. Autopsy results, which will include toxicology tests, are pending.

Within days of Prince’s death, sources told the Star Tribune that his use of painkillers, which were found at the scene, had become the focus of the investigation. As part of their probe, investigators are trying to determine where Prince got the pills and who provided them.

While authorities have characterized their work as a criminal investigation, that doesn’t mean that it will result in charges.

After he was first contacted by Prince’s representatives, Howard Kornfeld requested that a Twin Cities physician check on Prince and stabilize him, sources said.

It was hoped that Prince would agree to go to California for long-term care under Kornfeld’s supervision, which would include round-the-clock nursing support, Mauzy said.

Prince’s representatives called Howard Kornfeld because of his reputation as a nationally known addiction researcher, Mauzy said.

According to Howard Kornfeld’s business website, Recovery Without Walls is a “personalized outpatient clinic, specializing in innovative, evidence-based medical treatment for chronic pain and drug and alcohol addiction.” It says that the clinic’s medical team “works together to resolve problems that other clinicians have found difficult, if not impossible to solve.”

Howard Kornfeld also is known as an advocate for the expanded use of Suboxone, which contains buprenorphine and curbs opioid cravings. The drug has been underutilized, in part, because many doctors haven’t completed the federal training that is necessary to prescribe it.

Andrew Kornfeld had a small amount of buprenorphine to give to Prince. However, it was never administered, Mauzy said.

He added that Andrew Kornfeld gave the medication to Carver County investigators, who later interviewed him and the two others — whom Mauzy identified only as Prince staffers — who were at Paisley Park when the body was found.

Six days before Prince was found dead, his private plane was returning to Minneapolis after two concerts in Atlanta when it made an emergency landing in Moline, Ill. Sources with direct knowledge of the investigation have said that the landing occurred because Prince was overdosing on opioids.

Prince’s bodyguard carried him to waiting paramedics at the airport and he was given a shot of the opioid antidote Narcan. He was taken to a hospital, but left within a few hours against medical advice.

Carver County Chief Deputy Jason Kamerud declined to comment Tuesday about the investigation.

Tyka Nelson, Prince’s sister, who in recent days has led the appointment of a special administrator to oversee his estate, also declined to discuss her brother’s death Tuesday.

“I have nothing to say,” she said.





Addiction doctor was going to see Prince - StarTribune-com