Legendary musician Prince is dead at 57.
Following a TMZ report, Prince’s publicist confirmed the news to the Associated Press:
BREAKING: Publicist: Pop music superstar Prince has died at his home in suburban Minneapolis.
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 21, 2016
On Thursday morning the singer, born Prince Rogers Nelson, was reportedly found at his Paisley Park studio in Minnesota. TMZ had earlier reported that authorities of the Carver County Sheriff’s department in Chanhassen, Minnesota, confirmed a fatality at Prince’s estate and notified next of kin.
Last week, Prince was hospitalized after his private plane made an emergency landing following a concert. The singer had reportedly been battling the flu. (TMZ’s site, apparently flooded with traffic, briefly went down in the wake of its Prince report.)
Prior to TMZ’s report that Prince was dead, musician Zach Meyers startled the Twitter community by writing that he’d been informed of the death.
Hearing terrible news from a very inside source that Prince has passed.
— Zach Myers (@ZMyersOfficial) April 21, 2016
The musician has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, according to his Wikipedia page—one that was immediately updated with news of his death.
Prince leaves behind a towering discography spanning 39 solo albums dating back to 1978’s For You. However, the singer was notoriously choosy about how it was disseminated and consumed. In July he pulled his albums from Spotify and other streaming music services.
The public at-large immediately began to grieve the news via social media.
#Prince at the Super Bowl. Nothing will ever top this. https://t.co/0HkcvN76Sl
— Falcón (@JaimesonPaul) April 21, 2016
https://twitter.com/estherxlwang/status/723194101428953088
I can’t fucking breathe right now
— ?st (@questlove) April 21, 2016
And losing Bowie and Prince in the same year is some bullshit.
— Bruce Arthur (@bruce_arthur) April 21, 2016
Expect the tributes to continue pouring in over social media and at Coachella this weekend.
H/T TMZ
