May 9, 2016 PEOPLE42

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HE WAS A GENIUS WHO INSPIRED MILLIONS— AND A MAN OF MYSTERY OFFSTAGE. INSIDE THE COMPLICATED, COLORFUL LIFE OF A MUSIC ICON AND THE TRAGEDY THAT ENDED HIS REIGN

ByALYNDA WHEAT

PEOPLE May 9, 2016 43

rock-infused funk. Impromptu gatheringssprung up in New York City, in Los Angelesand at the gates of his recording studio andresidence Paisley Park in Chanhassen, Minn.Tributes poured in from President Obama,Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Oprah Winfrey andmore. Bruce Springsteen opened his concerttwo nights later with a rendition of Prince’ssignature ballad “Purple Rain.” Prince himselfhad closed his show with the song the weekbefore at an electrifying stop in Atlanta on hisPiano and a Microphone tour—his last majorconcert, as it turns out. He’d postponed it fromthe prior week for what he said was the flu.“Once again, I would like to apologize for thecancellation,” he told the audience. “I was a lit-tle under the weather.”

PPrince’s death on April 21 at age 57 forced the world onceagain to face the somber reality that while genius never dies,geniuses do—and often much too soon. This loss, though,hit especially hard for fans of the revolutionary artist whodefied genre and gender, blending lyrical poetry with

The artist seems to have been far sicker thanhe had let on. Sources close to Prince said he mayhave fought an “ongoing illness” leading up tohis death. “The people close to him were veryconcerned for his health and indicated he’d beenundergoing treatments that made his immunesystem weak,” one source said. There were alsopublic hints that Prince was not a well man.Returning from Atlanta, his private plane madean emergency landing in Moline, Ill.—less thanan hour short of his intended stop of Minneap-olis—so that he could be rushed to the hospitalto receive what several reports called a “saveshot” after he was found unresponsive on theflight. Though his longtime lawyer L. LondellMcMillan told the Associated Press the singerwas “not on any drugs that would be any cause

May 9, 2016 PEOPLE44

THANK YOU FORA FUNKY TIME

In the days followingPrince’s death,fans flocked to

Paisley Park, leavingballoons, flowers

and messagesoutside thecompound.

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for concern,” sources confirm to People that theseemingly clean-living singer, who eschewedrecreational drugs, once had a history of usingthe prescription painkiller Percocet. Still, thestar batted away any rumors that he was seri-ously ill. “Wait a few days before you waste anyprayers,” he said at a party at Paisley Park on Sat-urday, April 16. Yet it was just a few days later, onApril 21, that the news came from the singer’s55,000-sq.-ft. complex: Prince, the Oscar winnerwith seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe,millions of record sales and just as many fiercelyloyal fans, had been found dead in an elevatorwithin the complex.

As a performer, Prince is nearly impossible todefine. The late jazz great Miles Davis likenedhim to a combination of Jimi Hendrix, Mar-vin Gaye, James Brown and Charlie Chaplin.He mixed musical genres like a mad scientist,dressed like a lasciviousdandy and fused androg-yny and masculinityinto a celebration of rawcarnality. To borrow hisown lyrics, he was, in aword, sex. But the 5'2"dynamo who writhedaround onstage in chapsand high-heeled bootscould back up his raun-chy image with musicalvirtuosity. A master of some two dozen instru-ments, he gave kinetic live shows with multipleencores, then jammed for hours more at after-parties. His solo on “While My Guitar GentlyWeeps” at the 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fameceremony is the stuff of legend. His halftimeperformance of “Purple Rain” at the 2007Super Bowl—in actual rain he must have haddelivered—stands as one of the best of all time.Performers who came after Prince took notice,with stars like Lenny Kravitz, Janelle Monae,Justin Timberlake and Adam Levine picking upstyle and musical cues from the master. “I waslucky to call him a friend,” Levine told People ofthe star, with whom he spent nights jamming.“[I’ll remember] just the great times that we hadand just constantly being inspired by how he didthings his way.”

That determination was evident in Prince fromhis youth. Born Prince Rogers Nelson in 1958 tosinger and social worker Mattie Shaw and jazzperformer John L. Nelson, the future star wasforced to make his own way in the world. JohnNelson “found it hard to show emotion,” Princeconfessed of his father in a 1984 interview with

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‘He was amusician who

spoke mylanguage,so it’s hard

to take’—STEVEN TYLER

HIS FINALAPPEARANCES

1. The star attendeda Golden State

Warriors game inOakland, Calif., on

March 3, arrivingfashionably late

with model DamarisLewis, his muse.

2. “It was a crazyshow. He sounded

so good,” says asource of Prince’s

final concert date,in Atlanta on April

14. “He seemedphysically fine.”3. He was found

dead in an elevatoron April 21 at

his Paisley Parkcompound, where he

lived, recorded andperformed. “You seehis personal touches

everywhere,” saysfriend Jimmy Jam.“There was not an

inch of that facilitythat he didn’t touch.”

People. When the boy was 7, his parents split,beginning a years-long odyssey in which Princewas passed around among family members andfriends. The only constant in his life was music.Largely self-taught, he wrote his first song on hisfather’s piano at 7, played guitar at 13 and by 14had picked up the drums. “He was a quiet musi-cal genius,” says high school classmate RobertVernon Plant. “He could pick up rhythms andchords and make up beautiful little riffs on thespot, but he was really shy.” With an instrumentin his hand, though, “he was a different personaltogether,” says his junior high music teacherJimmy Hamilton. “His eyes would light up.”

In his late teens, Prince the star began toemerge. In 1977 he signed a then-unheard-of dealfor three albums with Warner Bros. that guaran-teed him creative control. His first two albumsgot him notice, but 1980’s Dirty Mind signaled thearrival of an emerging superstar. The followingtwo years saw the release of Controversy and 1999,

both of which quickly went platinum, but it wasthe seminal Purple Rain that sent Prince into thestratosphere. He owned the summer of 1984 withthe album, which included “Let’s Go Crazy,” “IWould Die 4 U,” “When Doves Cry” and the soar-ing title track, along with a semiautobiographicalfilm that scored with legions of fans if not critics.Prince was also turning himself into an impresa-rio, fronting his band the Revolution, introducingthe world to acts like Morris Day and groomingup-and-comers like Sheila E. “I knew the personI don’t think everyone else knew, someone theydidn’t get to see,” says the “Glamorous Life” sing-er and percussionist. “He loved people. He wasfunny. He loved throwing parties . . . and havingpeople over and playing music and entertaining.”He also had a blossoming reputation as a ladies’man. “He was an amazing gentleman—so fun-ny and very considerate,” she adds‚ having dat-ed Prince in the 1980s. In time he’d be linked toKim Basinger, Madonna, Vanessa Marcil, Sheri-

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THE MAKING OFAN ICON

1. “As a keyboardplayer he wasunparalleled,”

says Jimmy Jamof Prince (in 1977),

who excelledmusically startingin middle school.Later he “enjoyed

sitting at the pianoand writing.” 2. “He

was always veryfashionable—andalways looked likea rock star,” addsJimmy Jam of his

pal (ca. 1982). 3. Hehelped launch thecareer of longtimefriend Morris Day

(ca. 1982) when Dayand his band theTime appeared in

Purple Rain.

lyn Fenn, Sheena Easton and many more. Thatchanged when he married backup dancer MayteGarcia on Valentine’s Day in 1996. After suffer-ing the painful loss of their infant son later thatyear, and a subsequent miscarriage, the couplenever recovered. Their marriage ended in 2000.(See sidebar on page 50.)

That same year, Prince turned his attentiontoward business matters. In a dispute withhis record label, he changed his name into anunpronounceable symbol and wrote “slave” onhis cheek. “He was a visionary, and he fought forartists’ rights,” says his former publicist MitchSchneider. “He never let anybody deter him fromwhat he wanted to accomplish creatively andmusically,” adds Adam Levine. “As a musician, Ican’t tell you how much that’s rubbed off on me.”

He also went on to embrace his spiritual side,being baptized a Jehovah’s Witness in 2003. “Hewas ‘Brother Nelson’ to us,” says Anna Barry, amember of the St. Louis Park Kingdom Hall

congregation, to which Prince belonged. “Thiswas a safe place for him; it was a haven.” By allaccounts Prince embraced his new faith whole-heartedly, arriving to service in a conservativesuit and tie and going out to knock on doors, try-ing to recruit new members. “He was a believer,”adds James Lundstrom, another congregant, whoadds that Prince became so devout, he installed a“cuss bucket” in the studio. “If you swore at Pais-ley Park, he would charge you between $3 and$10 per swear word. And he wasn’t joking. Youhad to pay in cash in the bucket.” Along with notcelebrating birthdays and avoiding self-aggran-dizement, Jehovah’s Witnesses also abstain fromdrugs and limit alcohol use. Prince would “drink alittle red wine—no beers,” says Lundstrom.

The faith’s refusal to accept blood transfusions,a necessary part of many surgeries, may also haveplayed a role in Prince’s health concerns. Yearsof onstage performances—always in heels—hadbegun to take a toll on the 57-year-old’s body.

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GUITAR HERO“He’s just a genius,”says former manager

Bob Cavallo. “He’s one ofthe greatest guitarists.

I don’t know anyonewho could match him.”

A STAR ON- ANDOFFSTAGE1. Prince (in

1986) was knownfor his electricperformances.2. “Prince andI had a magical

journey, and I lovedhim immensely,”says his secondwife, ManuelaTestolini (with

him at the 2005Oscars). “I knew

him as a husband,friend and fiercephilanthropist.”

She plans to builda school in his

memory. 3. At hishome in Marbella,

Spain, in 1999.

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“His hip bothered him from jumping off risersfor 20 years,” says Sheila E. Without surgery toalleviate the condition, pain seemed inevitable.Still, rumors of prescription-drug abuse surprisemany who knew him. To Tina Kahn, one of thechildren of Prince’s longtime bodyguard CharlesHuntsberry, he was a doting surrogate uncle witha sweet tooth. “Every year he would send a dozenred roses and candy on our birthday. He wouldcome to Fourth of July cookouts and be playingvolleyball with us in his high heels. He’d play hide-and-go-seek with us around the yard—like, ‘Peek-

a-boo! I’m Prince!’ It was hilarious,” Kahn recalls.The last person to have seen Prince alive report-

edly dropped him off at Paisley Park at 8 p.m. thenight before he died. A 911 call was placed fromthe complex at 9:43 the next morning. By 10:07he was pronounced dead. The medical examinerconducted an autopsy the following day, finding“no obvious signs of trauma.” Toxicology reportsmay take weeks to complete. But the star’s lovedones spent little time pondering the questionsbehind his death, cremating his body the dayafter the autopsy and holding a celebration.

May 9, 2016 PEOPLE48

Girl Power: His Most Memorable Muses and ProtégéesTHE ICON SURROUNDED HIMSELF WITH BEAUTIFUL, TALENTED WOMEN ONSTAGE—AND OFF

‘Everyonefell in

love withhis music.That’s his

legacy’—SHEILA E.

APOLLONIA KOTEROThe actress-singer who played

his Purple Rain love interestdenied rumors of a romance,telling People in 1984, “Right

now music is his wife.”

SHEENA EASTONThe Scottish pop singer was

featured on “U Got the Look,”which appeared in Sign ‘O’ the

Times, before their 1989 hitBatman duet “The Arms of Orion.”

WENDY MELVOINThe guitarist backed Prince in his mid-

’80s band the Revolution, while hertwin sister, Susannah (not pictured),

was once engaged to the pop star.

VANITYPrince wrote and produced the now-deceased Vanity 6 frontwoman’s hit

“Nasty Girl,” and she was originally toappear in Purple Rain before they split.

THE BANGLESIn addition to writing the psychedelic pop

group’s hit “Manic Monday,” Prince was onceromantically linked to guitarist Susanna Hoffs (topright). (She denied the reports to People in 1986.)

SHEILA E.Prince met the drummer-

singer in 1978, and they workedon and off afterward. “We

would just jam at my house,”she says. “We had a blast.”

MISTY COPELANDThe icon plucked the now-renowned ballerina from

obscurity in 2009, recruiting herto dance in his “Crimsonand Clover” music video.

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Love and TragedyTo Prince she was “the Most Beautiful Girl inthe World.” He first met Mayte Garcia, his muse,his love and the subject of his 1994 hit song in1990, when the dancer and singer was 16. Ata concert in Spain, Garcia’s mother reportedlypassed a videotape of her dancing to one of hisbackup dancers. Prince hired Garcia to go ontour with him, and she inspired his 1992 LoveSymbol Album. On Valentine’s Day 1996 theywed in Minneapolis, releasing white doves at theceremony. She was pregnant two months later,and the couple welcomed a son, Boy Gregory.“This man was my everything. We had a family,”says Garcia, now 42. A week later their son diedfrom Pfeiffer syndrome, a rare genetic disorderaffecting the skull and facial bones. Garcia lostanother pregnancy to miscarriage, and the pairdivorced in 2000. “I loved him then, I love himnow and will love him eternally,” she tells People.“He’s with our son now.”

Questions continue to swirl about what willhappen to Prince’s vast estate, rumored to beworth some $250 million, including his masterrecordings, ancillary properties in Minnesota,Paisley Park and its vault of unreleased music.“I think that the minimum income flow over thenext five years—minimum—is $100 million,”says entertainment attorney Donald David,who represented the estates of Tupac Shakurand Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of R&B group TLC.Indeed, Prince’s album sales increased some42,000 percent in the days after his death.With no surviving children or intact marriages(Prince and his second wife, Manuela Testolini,divorced in 2006), that leaves his sister TykaNelson, along with five living half siblings, to dealwith what is left behind. The state of Minnesotacurrently has no will for Prince filed in probatecourt, but the complete absence of such a docu-ment would be an unusual oversight for a man sofastidious with business affairs.

What he left to fans, though, is clear: albums fullof spectacular, challenging, breathtaking music.The heartbreak is that a man beloved by so many,a man who once said that “friendship, real friend-ship, [is] all that counts,” apparently died alone.But no matter what unfolds in the coming weeksabout his health, habits or cause of death, fans willalways celebrate the way he lived. As he said atthe beginning of his 1984 hit “Let’s Go Crazy”:“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today toget through this thing called life.” Prince morethan got through life: He changed it, forever. •

50Reporting by Elaine Aradillas, Rose Minutaglio, Jeff Nelson and Karen Schneider in Chanhassen, with Melody Chiu in Los Angelesand Char Adams, Kathy Ehrich Dowd, Mary Green, Chris Harris and Janine Rubenstein in New York City

“There were nolimits. He just

continued to grow,move forward,” saysSheila E. of her friend

and former flame(in 2013). “There

are not a lot ofpeople who knewhim personally,but they got to

know him becauseof his music.”

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‘It’s sadthat we lostsomebodyso epic. Histalent wasso genuine

and authentic’—CHRISTINA

AGUILERA