NEW YORK, April 21. /Corr. TASS Ivan Pilshchikov/. R&B singer Prince Rogers Nelson, who performed under the pseudonym Prince, has died in the United States at the age of 58. His agent Yvette Noel-Chure told reporters about this.

Law enforcement officers found the singer unconscious; they tried to provide him with medical assistance, but despite this, the performer died. The sheriff of Carver County (Minnesota), on whose territory the house where the singer lived, Jim Olson, told reporters.

Alexander Belyaev, music critic, about Prince's contribution

According to him, sheriff's deputies responded to a call at Prince's home, which is located near Minneapolis (Minnesota). The singer was unconscious. They tried to give him artificial respiration, but they could not save the performer. His death was recorded approximately 30 minutes after the arrival of law enforcement officers.

According to the network resource TMZ, which specializes in news about the lives of stars, in recent weeks the Prince has been seriously ill with the flu. On April 15, his plane made an unscheduled landing in Illinois due to a sharp deterioration in the singer’s health, but the next day Prince performed a concert.

Minnesota's Sorrow

Immediately after the tragic news, residents of Minneapolis began to come to the singer’s house, surrounded by a large fence, and leave flowers and notes with words of love. Among them are not only fans of his work, but also those who knew the musician closely. The Suburbs founder Cheng Poling admitted that he was "shocked" by the unexpected news.

"Prince was a true original and a great inspiration. He will certainly go down in history as one of pop music's greatest icons," he said. Another musician who was supposed to rehearse in this studio with his band, Chris Osgood, also brought flowers to Prince's house. “We want to dedicate our next concert to him. He turned the world upside down, it’s such a loss,” he admitted.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges commented on the death of Prince Rogers Nelson. “The Prince is a child of our city, and love for his small homeland fills many of his songs,” she wrote on her personal web page. “The Prince was very versatile, and therefore his fans are very diverse, which only emphasizes his special personality,” the mayor said. “His voice is vital, and we will miss him very much.”

From the singer's biography

The performer gained worldwide fame after the release of his album entitled "1999" in 1982. When the singer was at the peak of his fame, he was considered to be second only to Michael Jackson in terms of popularity in the United States.

The performer is the winner of many prestigious awards, including an Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe.

Mikhail Margolis, music critic, about the death of singer Prince

Public reaction

On his Twitter page, US President Barack Obama wrote: "Prince once said that 'the strong spirit breaks the rules', and it was his spirit that was unusually strong, courageous and especially creative." A little later, the White House even released an official statement from the head of state in connection with the singer’s death, in which Obama noted that “few cultural figures influenced the development of popular music as significantly, touching the hearts of so many people.” The American leader called the singer "one of the most talented and prolific musicians of our time."

According to American media reports, the singer’s name has become the most mentioned on social networks in the last 24 hours. On the social microblogging network Twitter alone, the musician’s name was repeated more than 4 million times in the second half of Thursday.

Sunny summer morning. In one of the small houses of a woman in the suburb of St. Louis Park, there is a knock on the door. It is the world-famous singer Prince who humbly witnesses to people about the Kingdom of God. The woman kindly responded and invited Jehovah's Witnesses to her home. Sitting comfortably in the living room, the well-built man introduced himself as Brother Nelson and eagerly began to share Bible truth with the lady of the house. The woman listened attentively, but something was bothering her. After a while she interrupted:

"Excuse me, but has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like Prince?" - she asked.

The music legend - a faithful Jehovah's Witness - smiled with a sparkle in his eyes.

“I’ve already been told,” he replied and continued to talk about what the Bible says about God’s Kingdom and the hope for a wonderful future.

Then, at the end of this conversation, the woman asked him his name, and he said, "Rogers Nelson." Prince was known by this name in everyday life. Rogers Nelson never used his name "Prince" in the field ministry.

In 2003, he voluntarily joined the ranks of Jehovah's Witnesses and began to humbly participate in preaching the good news. It happened that during the service, strangers recognized Brother Nelson as the singer. However, the singer did not seek glory for himself, but returned his listeners to thinking about the spiritual. Often, during a break between performances, fans in love with the singer asked him for an autograph. But Nelson didn't like giving autographs. On such occasions he would often give his admirers a Bible tract or small booklet.

Rogers Nelson tried to say everywhere that all praise and glory belongs to the true God Jehovah, even in the presence of the entire elite of music and cinema, where even Barack Obama and his wife were present, as can be seen from the video below.
Many of his fans could not believe that their Prince had converted to the faith of Jehovah's Witnesses. Once Prince even compared his e transformation and conversion to faith with the awakening of Neo from the movie "The Matrix".

It is also noteworthy that Rogers Nelson never used his worldly fame in everyday life. Despite his fairly active stage activities, Brother Nelson was modest and taciturn. Brothers from the local congregation, Larry Graham and Sly Stone, where Mr. Graham is an elder, studied the Bible with Rogers Nelson.

Larry Graham and Sly Stone at a meeting of Jehovah's Witnesses,

who studied the Bible with Rogers Nelson

I need that dirty word...

Rogers Nelson was known as a humble and humble brother

Nelson last attended his congregation meeting on March 23, 2016. On this day, Jehovah's Witnesses around the world celebrated the Memorial of the death of Jesus Christ.

Rogers Nelson Princedied with hope

Singer Prince, cause of death

Nelson Rogers retained his hope of resurrection in Heaven on earth. He looked forward to the time, like all Jehovah's Witnesses, when the biblical promise would be fulfilled:

"The last enemy to be dealt with is death"

(1 Corinthians 15:26).

While the official cause of death has not been established, the police spoke about the circumstances of the celebrity’s death, and the Prince’s relatives shared details of the last days in the life of the legend.

“On April 21, at approximately 9:43 a.m., police patrol responded to a call at the Paisley Park studio in Chanhassen. Police and medical workers found the body of a man in the elevator without signs of life. They tried to give him first aid, but they failed to revive the victim. He was pronounced dead at 10.07 am. The man has been identified as Prince Rogers Nelson, 57, of Chanhassen. The circumstances of the death are being clarified,” the local police department reported details of the tragedy.

The artist’s relatives said that he had recently complained of a lingering flu, which is why he even canceled two concerts in April. A few days before his death, the Prince became ill on the plane. An insider then said that he was dehydrated, and despite the fact that the artist was discharged from the hospital a few days later, he looked sick and tired.

Prince's friend and former bandmate Andre Simone said that he recently corresponded with the artist, and he assured him that he was feeling fine.

“He said he was fine and promised that we would meet the next time he came to Los Angeles. I'm completely devastated and can't believe it. This is such a tragedy,” admitted Andre.

At the same time, the Prince spoke at a party at one of the clubs and, when asked by fans about their well-being, he hastened to reassure them, asking them “not to waste their prayers.” But the celebrity’s neighbors claim that in recent weeks he looked irritated and tired and was often seen in the local pharmacy.

The artist’s ex-wife Manuela Testolini, with whom the Prince was married from 2001 to 2006, refused to comment on the news of her ex-husband’s death, only admitting to reporters that it was unexpected for her. “No, I’m not fine,” the woman noted.

Photo: REX Features

Prince Rogers Nelson, better known by his stage name Prince, is an American rhythm and blues singer, winner of numerous Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe awards. In the late 80s and early 90s, Prince, along with and was considered the leader of world pop music. It is curious that all three were born in 1958.

Childhood and youth

Prince was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in a family of musicians. His father, John Lewis Nelson, was a pianist, and his mother, Mattie Della Shaw, was a jazz singer. By the way, the boy got his name from the pseudonym of his father, who performed as Prince Rogers. From early childhood, he and his sister Tika showed great interest in their parents' business. The future pop star wrote and played his first tune, “Funk Machine,” at the age of 7.

After his father and mother divorced, Prince alternated living with their new families, and then settled in the house of the parents of his best friend Andre Simone, who would later become the bassist in his band. As a teenager, the young man began performing in clubs and bars as part of various groups. He played keyboards and guitar, sometimes sat down at the drum kit, and also took his first steps in vocals.

It is curious that, despite his small height of only 158 centimeters, Prince was a member of the school basketball team in high school.

Music

Prince became a professional musician at the age of 19, when he joined his relative’s band “94 East”. And a year later, the singer’s first solo album, “For You,” was released, for which the young man himself wrote, arranged and performed all the songs. It is very important to note the sound of the musician’s debut compositions. He revolutionized rhythm and blues by replacing standard horn samples with unusual synthesizer sections. In the late 70s, thanks to Prince, styles such as soul and funk shifted together.

The singer’s first super-hit, “I Wanna Be Your Lover,” was on the second album “Prince.” A huge stir arose around the third album “Dirty Mind”, which stunned listeners with more than frank lyrics. The artist’s image was no less surprising than his songs: he appeared on stage in bright boots with huge heels, a bikini and a military overcoat.

In 1982, Prince released the dystopian album “1999,” which allowed the world community to call him the second pop musician on the planet after Michael Jackson. Two songs from this album, the title track and the erotic "Little Red Corvette", are included in the list of the greatest hits of all time.

Even greater success, if such a thing can be assumed, awaited the singer after the release of the “Purple Rain” disc. This album topped the main US Billboard chart for 24 weeks, and two songs, “When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy,” competed with each other for the right to be called the best hit of the year.

In the second half of the 80s, Prince completely stopped thinking about commercial benefits and embarked on open musical experiments. He creates the psychedelic theme "Batdance" for the film "", the disconcerting album "Sign o" the Times" and the first record of his songs, on which it is not he who sings, but Rosie Gaines. Prince also makes several duet recordings, the most famous of which is the duet with Madonna "Love Song".

In 1993, the artist again shocked the audience. He changes his stage name to an icon that is a combination of masculine and feminine:

This move turned out to be more than just a fancy idea. The fact is that in this way the artist showed internal changes: if before he was aggressive and shocking, now he has become meek and lyrical. Under this “icon”, Prince released several records of different styles, and the biggest hit of that time was the sensual song “Gold”.

Prince returned to his original pseudonym in the early 2000s. The album “Musicology” again returned the singer to the musical Olympus. The next disc, “3121,” is notable for the fact that some of the boxes contained free invitation tickets to the concert of the upcoming world tour. Prince borrowed this idea from the fairy tale “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” In recent years, the artist has released two albums a year. In 2014, “lectrumelectrum” and “Art Official Age” were released, and in 2015, two parts of the disc “HITnRUN”.

Personal life

Throughout his life, Prince had romantic relationships with many show business stars, for example, Madonna, Susan Munsey, Anna Fantastic, Susanna Hofs and many others. In 1985, he was engaged to singer Suzanne Melvon, but the marriage did not take place.

He married his backing vocalist and dancer Maite Garcia at the age of 37. The wedding took place on Valentine's Day in 1996. Soon a son, Gregory, was born into the family, but the boy was born unhealthy and died just a week later. The couple tried to support each other for some time, but then divorced.

In 2001, Prince remarried Manuela Testolini, but five years later his wife left him for singer Eric Benet.

The likely reason for the break in relations is the fact that the star came under the influence of Jehovah's Witnesses. He not only attended religious meetings, but sometimes he himself went to his neighbors’ houses to discuss issues of the Christian faith with them.

Since 2007, he has been dating his protégé Bria Valente. In 2016, the musician’s memoirs entitled “The Beautiful Ones” were supposed to be released.

Death

On April 15, 2016, Prince was on a plane and had a medical emergency. The pilot even had to make an emergency landing. Doctors discovered a complex form of the influenza virus in the singer’s body and began treatment, due to which the artist had to cancel several concerts of his ongoing tour.

It is unknown whether influenza was the main cause, but April 21, 2016. His lifeless body was discovered at the musician's Pashley Park estate.

Discography

• 1979 - "Prince"
• 1982 - "1999"
• 1984 - “Purple Rain”
• 1985 - “Around the World in a Day”
• 1987 - “Sign o’ the Times”
• 1991 - “Diamonds and Pearls”
• 1992 - “Love Symbol Album”
• 2004 - “Musicology”
• 2014 - “Art Official Age”
• 2015 - “HITnRUN”

The legendary American musician and songwriter Prince, a small and successful rhythm and blues performer, seven-time Grammy winner and Oscar winner, died in the United States at the age of 57.

The circumstances of the singer’s death are partly similar to the circumstances of the death of the King of Pop Michael Jackson, who died seven years ago in his home, writes Gazeta.Ru.

On Thursday, April 21, police in the American city of Chanhassen (a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota) received a call to the Paisley Park residence, where Prince Rogers Nelson, better known by his stage name Prince, lived.

The police immediately reported the death, but it became known later that it was the owner of the house who died.

“The first emergency personnel on the scene tried to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but they were unable to revive the deceased,” the police said in a statement, RIA Novosti reported.

The cause of Prince's death has not yet been announced; the police have just begun their investigation.

It is also reported that emergency workers found the singer unconscious in the elevator.

According to Western media, Prince had been sick with the flu for several weeks, and exactly a week ago, on April 15, his personal plane was forced to make an emergency landing while the singer was flying between concerts.

The musician required medical attention, but spent only three hours in the hospital before returning to his home in Minnesota.

In addition to the flu, Prince had serious problems with his hip joints - doctors recommended getting a prosthesis, but he refused because of his religious beliefs.

One of the reasons for his foot problems, he himself called his passion for high-soled shoes, which were part of his stage image.

Prince was born in 1958 and was interested in music as a child. This happened thanks to his parents: his father was a pianist, and his mother was a jazz singer.

He had a completely unforgettable image - small, only 157 centimeters tall, he went on stage in shiny and bright clothes, in high heels.

By the end of the 80s, Prince had achieved almost everything he could dream of. And I started experimenting.

He became increasingly extravagant - he could cancel the release of an already planned album, take a pseudonym in the form of an unpronounceable symbol, or demand from the press to be called "The Singer Formerly Known as Prince." Everything seemed to be forgiven to him.

At the same time, he continued to release records - there are thirty-nine of them in his discography, with the last two (“HITnRUN Phase One” and “HITnRUN Phase Two”) released in 2015.

Prince was in great demand and strived to convey his work to the public - during his 37 years of active career, he conducted 28 tours. The last of these, the Hit and Run Tour, took a year and a half and included 39 concerts in Europe and North America.

Prince has 32 Grammy nominations, seven Grammy wins, and two of his albums (1999 and Purple Rain) are inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. He was also nominated 12 times for the MTV Video Award - and won this prize four times.

And one of the musician’s main awards was inclusion in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005 - Prince was finally recognized as one of those who created modern rhythm and blues.