Published
Thu, Apr 21, 2016, 17:05
- Prince Rogers Nelson—a towering influence on electronic music and one of the most important figures in pop history—has died aged 57.
Prince has died at the age of 57.
News broke the morning of Thursday, April 21st that he was found dead at his Paisley Park complex in Minnesota. The singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, real name Prince Rogers Nelson, had suffered a medical emergency on April 15th, with his private jet forced to make an emergency landing in Illinois. TMZ say Prince's representatives told the site he suffered a bad bout of flu, and he performed a concert the following day. At this stage the exact cause of death remains unknown. According to the AP, a police statement says that police called to Prince's studio found him unresponsive in an elevator and attempted to perform CPR.
Prince wrote some of the 20th century's most enduring pop albums—from his self-titled 1979 LP to Controversy, Dirty Mind and his monumental double album Sign O' The Times—and countless hit singles. He also starred in several movies (most famously 1984's Purple Rain), wrote hit songs for acts like The Bangles and Sinead O'Connor and worked with a number of bands, including The Revolution, The New Power Generation and 3rdeyegirl. His influence on electronic music permeated almost every significant genre. He has sold more than 100 million records and won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award, and toured regularly in recent years.