ROCK STAR PRINCE has died at the age of 57.
His publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, told The Associated Press the music icon was found dead at his home in Chanhassen.
His body was found at his Paisley Park studio in Minnesota early this morning.
The singer – real name Prince Rogers Nelson – was believed to have had a medical emergency last week, but appeared at a concert the following day.
Sheriff’s officials in Minnesota said deputies found Prince unresponsive in an elevator at the compound.
Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson said first responders tried CPR but couldn’t revive the musician. He said the death is under investigation.
Hundreds of fans have gathered outside the studio.
US President Barack Obama shared this tribute to Prince on Facebook:
Widely acclaimed
The singer, songwriter, arranger and instrumentalist was widely acclaimed as one of the most inventive musicians of his era, drawing upon influences ranging from James Brown to the Beatles to Jimi Hendrix. His hits included Little Red Corvette, Let’s Go Crazy and When Doves Cry.
The Minneapolis native broke through in the late 1970s with the hit I Wanna Be Your Lover, and soared over the following decade with such albums as 1999 and Purple Rain.
He would go on to sell over 100 million albums. Purple Rain is often described as one of the greatest albums of all time.
Prince became an international sensation in the 1980s, when he popularised the Minneapolis sound of danceable funk.
In 2007, he played what many believe to be the best Super Bowl halftime show of all time, blasting out songs from Purple Rain and covers of songs by Queen, Bob Dylan, Foo Fighters and Creedance Clearwater Revival.
He last performed in Ireland at Malahide Castle in 2011.
Tributes have been flooding in for the musician.
An icon
Prince seemed to summon the most original and compelling sounds at will, whether playing guitar in a flamboyant style that openly drew upon Jimi Hendrix, switching his vocals from a nasally scream to an erotic falsetto or turning out album after album of stunningly original material.
Among his other notable releases were Sign O’ the Times, Graffiti Bridge and The Black Album.
He was also fiercely protective of his independence, battling his record company over control of his material and even his name. Prince once wrote “slave” on his face in protest of not owning his work and famously battled and then departed his label, Warner Bros, before returning a few years ago.
“What’s happening now is the position that I’ve always wanted to be in,” Prince told The Associated Press in 2014. “I was just trying to get here.”
In 2004, Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll of Fame, which hailed him as a musical and social trailblazer.
“He rewrote the rulebook, forging a synthesis of black funk and white rock that served as a blueprint for cutting-edge music in the ’80s,” the Hall’s dedication reads.
“Prince made dance music that rocked and rock music that had a bristling, funky backbone. From the beginning, Prince and his music were androgynous, sly, sexy and provocative.”
Music sales
Sales of his music have soared since news broke of his death.
Three of his songs — Purple Rain, Little Red Corvette and When Doves Cry — surged to seventh, ninth and tenth on iTunes’ Top Songs chart.
Four of his albums — The Very Best of Prince, Purple Rain, The Hits/The B-Sides, and 1999 — jumped to first, second, third and eighth on iTunes’ Top Albums chart.
- with reporting by Paul Hosford and Órla Ryan
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