MPR | article 4/21/16
Minnesota music legend Prince dead at 57
Prince, the Minnesota-born international pop icon whose sound revolutionized music and put the Minneapolis scene on the map, is dead.
Carver County authorities this afternoon said deputies responded at about 9:43 a.m. to reports of a medical emergency at Prince's Paisley Park studios in Chanhassen.
Prince was found unresponsive in an elevator in the studios. First responders used CPR but were unable to revive him. He was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m. An investigation is underway.
MPR News reporters are on the scene at Paisley Park where fans are gathering.
News reporters and Prince fans gather outside Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minn., after the musician's death was announced Thursday. Tom Baker for MPR News
"Today, the world lost a creative icon," President Barack Obama said in a statement. "Few artists have influenced the sound and trajectory of popular music more distinctly, or touched quite so many people with their talent. He was a virtuoso instrumentalist, a brilliant bandleader, and an electrifying performer."
Prince, 57, was reportedly treated last week for dehydration in Illinois after an unscheduled stop of a plane he was on while returning from a performance in Georgia.
On Saturday night at Paisley Park, Prince
threw a dance party and made a brief appearance to assure people he was fine.
"Wait a few days before you waste any prayers," he told revelers.
Widely considered a pop music pioneer, Prince is credited for creating what became known as the Minneapolis Sound. It's a mix of rock, electronic music, funk and more.
"He rewrote the rulebook, forging a synthesis of black funk and white rock that served as a blueprint for cutting-edge music" in the 1980s, according to the
National Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "Prince made dance music that rocked and rock music that had a bristling, funky backbone."
Named after his jazz musician father, Prince was the product of a broken home who found refuge in music, his Hall of Fame biography noted. "By his early teens, he'd mastered multiple instruments ... A demo tape by the young prodigy resulted in major-label interest, and an 18-year-old Prince signed to Warner Bros., insisting on the right to self-produce."
Known for fiercely protecting his privacy, Prince recently showed signs of shedding his reclusive reputation. He hosted several late-night jam sessions where he serenaded Madonna, celebrated the Minnesota Lynx's WNBA championship and showcased his latest protege, singer Judith Hill.
On stage in New York City last month, he told fans that he was writing his memoir. "The Beautiful Ones'' was expected to be released in the fall of 2017 by publishing house Spiegel & Grau.
Over the years, the R&B band Mint Condition opened several times for Prince all over the world. Keyboardist Lawrence Waddell said Prince was beautifully quirky — and spontaneous.
"He comes up to us and he says, 'Can I play on a song?' We're like, 'OK — what? Of course,' Waddell recalled. "No rehearsal or anything, he just comes up on stage and says, 'Tell me when you want to start playing.' And he just kills it."
No matter what instrument Prince would grab — guitar, bass, drums or piano — Prince's energy spilled out, Waddell said.
"The instrument was a conduit," Waddell said. "The music was really in him."
