Prince dead at 57
Iconic musician dies in mysterious circumstances.
The musician known as Prince has died aged 57.
His publicist confirmed his death to the Associated Press.
The AP says his body was found at his home in Minnesota early Thursday US time, slumped in an elevator.
The cause of his death is unknown.
The singer – full name Prince Rogers Nelson – had a medical emergency on April 15 that forced his private jet to make an emergency landing in Illinois. But he appeared at a concert the next day to assure his fans he was okay. His media reps said he was battling the flu.
Prince's best-selling album was Purple Rain, released in 1984, which sold around 22 million copies.
A dispute with his record company Warner over his contract saw him change his name to an unpronounceable symbol in 1993.
His album sales stalled during his multi-year fight with the label and never recovered.
But even as recently as 2004 Rolling Stone reported he was the highest-earning musical artist in the world for that year with an annual income of $US55.6 million – largely thanks to concert receipts.
On February 24 year, Prince sold out his first New Zealand shows (both on the same day) at Auckland's ASB Theatre.
Staff reporter
Fri, 22 Apr 2016
Fri, 22 Apr 2016
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Prince dead at 57
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