How did Prince die?
On April 21st, 2016, the world went silent. After decades of electrifying the music world with tireless creativity and a never-ending sonic evolution, the breaking news came through that Prince, at age 57, had died.
It was one of those deaths where everyone remembers where they were. Similar to the loss of David Bowie, there was always an immortal quality about Prince that made it seem like the Purple One would never pass on. The sheer scale of his talent felt too otherwordly for that, as he seemed to possess a skill level that no one could rival.
In 1978, on his debut album, he proved that it would take an entire band to even try, showing that he could play the role of each and every band member and the songwriter and producer too and create something a whole cast of people would struggle to compete with. On that debut, when he was still barely an adult, he played each and every instrument and produced the record, proving a point to his label that it would always be his way or the highway, and he needed no help in making sure his way was done right.
From that moment on, each new album seemed to only level the artist up. By 1984, he had the whole world in the palm of his hand as the release of Purple Rain saw a moment when Prince held the number one album, movie and song. Several of the album’s tracks proved huge hits, especially the titular anthem but also ‘When Doves Cry’, a track that Prince wrote in under 24 hours when he realised he needed an extra tune for the film as further proof of his boundless talent. Throughout the 1980s and onwards, he endured as one of the world’s most revered players, acting as a gold standard for guitarists, songwriters, singers and performers alike.
There was never a decline. Even way into the 2000s, Prince was still on top of his game. His live shows still drew in huge crowds, his halftime show at the Superbowl in 2007 was heralded as one of the best, and his albums were still packed with newness and ongoing creativity. Even at his famed after-show parties, where he would play a whole other set, his audience saw a musician still at his peak as he never plateaued or grew predictable.
However, behind the scenes, Prince was struggling. In the mid-2000s, he had surgery on his hip. After years of performing in heels and throwing himself around on stage, he was in major pain and began taking pretty intense medication to soothe it after surgery. However, as we sadly hear so often, the medication used to help a person can quickly become the problem itself, as Prince, like so many others, became addicted to it.
It wasn’t until April 2016 that the effects or the true extent of this became clear. Prince’s team became concerned, and the artist fell ill. After postponing some shows due to illness, he performed what would be his final ever show on April 14th, 2016, and the next morning became unresponsive on his private jet back home. The plane did an emergency landing, and he received naloxone in hospital, a medication used to block the effects of opioids, especially following an overdose.
Prince defied medical advice as he left the hospital and spent the next few days shopping and seeing friends as normal until the fateful day of April 16th.
What was Prince’s official cause of death?
On April 16th, 2016, Prince’s team called in a specialist in pain management and addiction to help the star manage his pain without the risk of another overdose. He was due to meet with the specialist only days later, but sadly, it proved to be too late.
At 9:43am, an ambulance was called to come to Paisley Park, Prince’s residency in Minnesota. At 10:07am, 19 minutes after the ambulance’s arrival, Prince was pronounced dead.
The official cause of his death, as stated by the medical examiner, was an accidental overdose of fentanyl. The pain medication that Prince had bought before the specialist could help him find a safer alternative turned out to be counterfeit and laced with Fentanyl, a highly addictive opioid that is often lethal. In 2022 alone, the substance was the cause of 200 deaths a day in America as the country is still battling against an epidemic of the drug, which claimed Prince as one of its many victims.
