# Prince Dead at 57 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [April 21, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828 "2016-04-21T16:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/101 "2016-04-23T15:46:10Z")
It just occurred to me that Michael Jackson and Prince were exactly the same age. I don’t know why that seems strange to me. What was I expecting? That Prince would be older? Younger? I have no idea what I was thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/102 "2016-04-23T16:06:30Z")
Prince playing “Creep” at Coachella, 2008 — [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NFXZNt4oLkE/hqdefault.jpg ""Creep" - Prince at Coachella 2008 (Uploaded via Permission from Radiohead & NPG Music Publishing)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFXZNt4oLkE) ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/103 "2016-04-23T16:14:46Z")
A friend of my husband’s saw **Purple Rain** four times in one week. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/104 "2016-04-23T16:24:18Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It just occurred to me that Michael Jackson and Prince were exactly the same age. Madonna, too ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/105 "2016-04-23T16:24:30Z")
Stories about Prince —[Prince dead at 57: The best weird stories about musical superstar Prince](http://qz.com/667206/prince-weird-stories/) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/106 "2016-04-23T17:32:59Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’ve watched this a dozen times since Thursday — [http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y](http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y) Is that George’s son to the viewer’s right of the mike? Looks one helluva lot like George. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/107 "2016-04-23T17:44:53Z")
Heh another case of needing to read a few more posts before I commented. ^ ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/108 "2016-04-23T18:06:37Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > And the other guitarist between Dhani Harrison and Prince … Sorry, just noticed this. Scott Thurston, bassist for The Heartbreakers. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/109 "2016-04-23T19:29:44Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > After being in a state of shock for the last day and a half, I finally cried this morning. > > Prince was not supposed to die this young. I was expecting him to be 100 years old and still looking like he was 35, and laughing at us mere mortals for aging due to our meat-eating lifestyles. > > I was expecting him to be still cranking out music 30 years from now and it still be stuff that has me solemnly nodding my head like Billy when “The Kid” has his moment of redemption playing Purple Rain. > > I was expecting my kids to attend his fucking concerts and listening to his music and knowing the words to his songs better than me. Now, I worry they will only see him as some old dead guy that was a superstar back in the 1980s (which will be ancient times for them). > > I don’t even care what killed him. I don’t really want to know at this point. All I know was that this is a devastating loss to the world. There will never be another icon like Prince. Never. He was the one person on the planet who could be forgiven for every personality flaw he had (which were exceptionally numerous and in some cases, straight up ridiculous) because he was so gifted musically. And he wielded so much charisma he could’ve been very dangerous if he’d been an evil politician, but fortunately for humanity, he channeled that talent into his stage presence. > > Damn, getting teary-eyed again. There is nothing else that needs to be said. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/110 "2016-04-23T19:47:46Z")
Fellow Minnesotan James Lileks’s [tribute](http://www.startribune.com/a-prince-parable-the-rock-star-and-waiter/376634021/). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/111 "2016-04-23T22:35:42Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > No one said ‘seizure on the plane’ but you. Official word is that he OD’d on the plane and had a Save Shot at the airport in IL. Doctors wanted to keep him for 24 hours be he left anyways. > There is actual proof. Did you do any homework before you claimed there wasn’t? WHAT actual proof? Provide a cite. Because, despite my proximity to Illinois, there’s been nothing official about him having an OD on the TV, radio, or local papers. Please provide evidence. > [@](#): > > Withdrawal from opiates/opioid can cause both seizures and vomiting. People that vomit, especially while seizing can inhale the vomit and choke to death…it’s one of the ways you can die while withdrawing. I’m not making this stuff up, I actually looked these things up before I wrote them. And it’s hardly ‘a notion’ it’s just something I tossed out there, christ. I worked for four years at a methadone clinic and met thousands of opiate addicts. The clinic detoxed many of them, from slow detox to (upon request) cold turkey. Opiate withdrawal is miserable but, unless there is some other underlying problem, almost never fatal. It’s the OD that is most likely to cause vomiting, not the withdrawal, and you don’t have to be having a seizure to inhale vomit. Seizures are rare with opiate withdrawal (although if Prince had a history of seizures - which he did state he had as a child - that makes it a bit more likely), much more likely to occur with benzodiazepine or alcohol withdrawal. If you won’t take my word for it, take Qadgop the Mercotan’s words on opiate withdrawal - he’s an MD, some of his current caseload are addicts, and he has personal experience with opiate withdrawal. But I await your _proof_ that Prince’s plane diverted because he was actively OD’ing. > [@](#): > > [What’s your point?](http://www.tmz.com/2016/04/21/prince-walgreens-death/) What’s yours? There have been times I’ve been to a pharmacy multiple times per week and opiates weren’t involved. Nowhere does this article say what he was there for (nor should it, if the pharmacists are obeying privacy laws). TMZ is pushing the “drug addict” theory but all they have is speculation and rumor, no proof. > [@](#): > > [Prince: Percocet Triggered OD Days Before Death](http://www.tmz.com/2016/04/22/prince-od-percocet-death/) Who the _frack_ are these “sources”. Seriously, a “save shot”? A _reputable_ medical person, and even some of us civilians, know that the name of the medication is “Narcon”, or more precisely naloxone. If that’s even what was in this hypothetical shot. There are other medications that might be injected into someone having a medical emergency. > [@](#): > > If anyone is jumping to conclusions here, it’s you. I really doubt either of these things is the case, but please provide PROOF that he was not murdered or killed himself before making any such statements. The Milwaukee coroner, an actual _official_, made a very public statement yesterday that the autopsy - and _official medical examination_ by a _qualified professional_ - found no sign of trauma and nothing to indicate it was a suicide. Here, have a [link](http://www.cbs58.com/story/31794448/medical-examiner-princes-autopsy-is-complete). The TMZ rumors are repeated but the actual airport spokesman declined to identify the airplane or patient, which is how privacy is supposed to work. The only source pushing the OD/drugs story is TMZ. Given that they live on scandal and rumor perhaps we should consider that they might have a negative bias. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/112 "2016-04-23T23:28:08Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Around 4:30? Not sure. Coulda been anything from an aborted trick (playing behind his head or with his teeth) to just trying to adjust how it was laying on his body. > He didn’t appear close enough to any speakers to be going for any kind of amp induced feedback. > > If I had to guess, I’d guess he was just trying to adjust the strap. There’s a few times just before and after where he moves it around as well, just not quite as much as that. I was just rewatching his superbowl show. He does the same thing there. So maybe there’s a reason, maybe it’s just a thing he does, but it wasn’t just a one off thing. I haven’t watched/rewatched all his other stuff, but I’d be willing to bet if you did, you’d find him doing it other times as well. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/113 "2016-04-23T23:33:27Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > I was just rewatching his superbowl show. He does the same thing there. So maybe there’s a reason, maybe it’s just a thing he does, but it wasn’t just a one off thing. > I haven’t watched/rewatched all his other stuff, but I’d be willing to bet if you did, you’d find him doing it other times as well. Hm. That might be the best answer we get. By the way, in the HoF clip he does it at least twice in about 10 seconds, between 4:25 and 4:35. The first time just a little bit, and the second time completely up and away. And perhaps he did it more than that. When I watch the whole thing again, I’ll try to note it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/114 "2016-04-23T23:38:47Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Hm. That might be the best answer we get. By the way, in the HoF clip he does it at least twice in about 10 seconds, between 4:25 and 4:35. The first time just a little bit, and the second time completely up and away. And perhaps he did it more than that. When I watch the whole thing again, I’ll try to note it. That’s why I thought that maybe he was just trying to adjust the strap or how he was holding the guitar. Little bit first…nope the strap is still snagged on my collar, try lifting it all the way up. Something like that. But [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJDuGjMwsow) you can see him do it around 1:19, again after that as he’s walking away from the camera and again at 1:55. There may be more, those are just the couple that I saw. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/115 "2016-04-23T23:43:48Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > That’s why I thought that maybe he was just trying to adjust the strap or how he was holding the guitar. Little bit first…nope the strap is still snagged on my collar, try lifting it all the way up. Something like that. > > But [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJDuGjMwsow) you can see him do it around 1:19, again after that as he’s walking away from the camera and again at 1:55. There may be more, those are just the couple that I saw. Right that’s the Super Bowl show. Thanks for that, it’s a much better quality than I was watching before. (I always wondered about the lightning just before he starts playing … it looks so real! What did they do?) Damn, he makes it look so freaking effortless. I’m sitting here with my fat achy fingers just trying to get one decent chord out of my guitar. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/116 "2016-04-23T23:47:43Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Right that’s the Super Bowl show. Thanks for that, it’s a much better quality than I was watching before. > > (I always wondered about the lightning just before he starts playing … it looks so real! What did they do?) > > Damn, he makes it look so freaking effortless. I’m sitting here with my fat achy fingers just trying to get one decent chord out of my guitar. I believe it’s fake, I’d guess only the TV audience saw it. Here’s a semi-behind the scenes on that. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NN3gsSf-Ys) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/117 "2016-04-24T05:04:15Z")
[There’ll Never B Another Like Him.](https://musicmp3.ru/artist_prince__album_mplsound.html#.VxxTG0eYgVE) ☹ ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/118 "2016-04-24T09:04:28Z")
The fact that he died in April is just nuts to me. All good things they say, never last. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/119 "2016-04-24T10:05:37Z")
In January I attempted to sing some Prince songs… WARNING I am a terrible singer… Cream > **[Vocaroo | Online voice recorder](https://vocaroo.com/0cji5yRKXP)** > > Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs. Insatiable > **[Vocaroo | Online voice recorder](https://vocaroo.com/nsvsBDP4jh)** > > Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs. I wish I could sing like him. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828/120 "2016-04-24T12:46:05Z")
Bruce Springsteen — [Bruce Springsteen opens Brooklyn show with Purple Rain - YouTube](http://youtu.be/KkOxeKA2WNE) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-dead-at-57/752828.md?page=7)