Legendary singer Prince died Thursday at his Minnesota compound, Paisley Park, his publicist confirmed to TVGuide.com. He was 57.
Prince was recently hospitalized after a medical emergency forced his private plane to make an emergency landing, but he then appeared at a concert the following day. Sources tell TMZ he had been battling the flu.
“It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer, Prince Rogers Nelson, has died at his Paisley Park residence this morning at the age of 57,” the singer’s rep told TVGuide.com in a statement. “There are no further details as to the cause of death at this time.”
The Carver County Sheriff’s office is investigating the death.
Born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis, Prince wrote his first song at age 7. He released his debut album, For You, in 1978.
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In the early 1980s, Prince began recording with his side project, the Time. In the mid-1980s, he christened his band the Revolution and in 1991, renamed his backing musicians the New Power Generation. In 1992, coinciding with the release of his 12th album, he began identifying himself by an unpronounceable symbol – a combination of the symbols for male and female – rather than his name.
Throughout his decades-long career, Prince released 39 albums, had five number-one singles, was nominated for 30 Grammy awards and won seven. His most popular songs included “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” “Little Red Corvette” and “Kiss.” He also won an Oscar for the score to the film Purple Rain, and gave an iconic Super Bowl halftime performance in 2007. In addition, Prince was the first artist to release an entire album (1997’s Crystal Ball) exclusively on the Internet. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
Prince released his final album, HITnRUN Phase One, in September 2015.
More on this story as it develops …