Prince
The autopsy report of Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson) — 1958–2016.
The Prodigy
Prince Rogers Nelson was born June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A musical prodigy who played guitar, piano, drums, and bass by his early teens, he signed with Warner Bros. at 19 and played nearly every instrument on his debut album For You (1978). Dirty Mind (1980) and Controversy (1981) fused funk, rock, new wave, and R&B into something entirely his own — provocative, virtuosic, and utterly original.
Purple Rain
1999 (1982) made him a star with “Little Red Corvette” and the apocalyptic title track. Then came Purple Rain (1984) — the album spent 24 consecutive weeks atop the Billboard 200, and the semi-autobiographical film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score. “When Doves Cry,” “Let's Go Crazy,” and the epic title song cemented Prince as the defining musical genius of his generation.
He never slowed down: Around the World in a Day, Parade (with the number-one “Kiss”), and the double-album masterpiece Sign o' the Times (1987) followed in rapid succession, each one reinventing his sound. Batman (1989) gave him another chart-topper with “Batdance.”
The Symbol
In 1993, in a battle for control of his master recordings, Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol — becoming “The Artist Formerly Known as Prince” — and began appearing with the word “SLAVE” written on his cheek. He converted to the Jehovah's Witness faith in 2001. He released a torrent of music through the 1990s and 2000s, returned to chart-topping form with Musicology (2004), was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that same year, gave away the album Planet Earth free with a British newspaper in 2007, and delivered a legendary rain-soaked Super Bowl halftime show that same year.
His final decade brought 20Ten, the 3rdeyegirl collaborations Plectrumelectrum and Art Official Age, and Hit n Run Phase Two (2015). In early 2016 he launched the intimate Piano & a Microphone tour. His final performance came April 14, 2016, at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. The next day, his plane made an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois, where he was treated for what was reported as flu — later understood to be a near-fatal overdose.
The Death
On April 21, 2016, Prince was found unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota. He was 57. The Midwest Medical Examiner's Office determined he died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl — counterfeit Vicodin pills laced with the powerful opioid. He left no will, setting off years of legal battles over his vast estate and legendary vault of unreleased music. He was cremated, and his remains placed at Paisley Park, now a museum.