Various sources have reported that the musician Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson) died suddenly on Thursday morning at his home in Chanhassen, near Minneapolis, Minnesota. Variety noted that his passing was confirmed by his publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, who told the news to the Associated Press.
No cause of death was given. He was 57 years old.
As recently as April 15, Prince had an unspecified medical situation, which caused his private jet to land in Illinois for treatment. He claimed it was the flu, and the very next day he insisted on performing.
Prince’s musical legacy is enormously influential, and his unique funk- and soul-inflected brand of pop-rock helped define the sound of the late 1980s. He was a noted multi-instrumentalist, and claimed that while recording his first album that he played “all 27 instruments.” His musical output was prodigious, and over the course of his career he released 20 full studio albums, and often wrote and produced music for other musicians.
He had famous relationships with other celebrities, including Kim Basinger, Madonna, and Carmen Electra. He was married twice, first to backup singer/dancer Mayte Garcia in 1996 (divorced in 1999); later to Manuela Testolini in 2001 (divorced 2006).
