Prince Rogers Nelson, if anyone, seemed like he had his life in order. The superstar was
practically worshiped by millions but generally kept the public at an arm's length. His real
life was rarely a fairy tale. Let's take a look at the tragic real-life story of Prince.
Even if you're not particularly familiar with Prince's music, there's a decent chance that
you've heard about his many, many contractual controversies with an assortment of record
companies. The Guardian reported that Warner Music signed Prince in 1977 when he was 18
years old and allowed him to mature over multiple albums. Things exploded for Prince with MTV
and his Top Ten hit, "1999." He later set up Paisley Park Records, which operated jointly
with Warner until the early '90s, when things started to get ugly.
From 1993 to 1996, disputes over money and musical output caused Prince to rebel against
Warner and change his name to "The Artist Formerly Known As Prince" symbol. He then
released a series of sometimes subpar albums in order to get out of his Warner contract,
but new record companies failed to bring him long-term satisfaction.
Prince was a physical performer, known for jumping around while wearing high-heeled platform
shoes. But The Guardian reported rumors in 2009 of Prince's emerging hip problems starting
in 2005, and there were several rumors of secretive surgical procedures that he might
have undergone to deal with the situation. The musician was reportedly in dire need of
a double hip replacement but couldn't have one due to Prince being a Jehovah's Witness
and refusing blood transfusions as part of his faith. Instead he relied heavily on painkillers
to cope with the situation.
According to The Guardian, others say that his hip problems manifested even earlier,
as he was already experiencing pain during the Purple Rain tour in 1984-85. Entertainment
Tonight reported that Prince did eventually resort to surgery but he continued to use
painkillers for the rest of his life.
It's not exactly a surprise that Prince was rather popular with the ladies. But despite
his considerable charisma, he never managed to make his marriages last. Biography reports
the musician was notoriously private when it came to his personal life, but that he
had his share of long-term relationships and was married twice. But both unions were relatively
brief.
Prince's first wife, Mayte Garcia, was a dancer and backup singer. The two married
on Valentine's Day 1996, but their union proved to be a tragic one due to the death of their
newborn son later that year. The couple eventually divorced in 2000.
Then Prince married Manuela Testolini in 2001. Rolling Stone reported
that Testolini worked with Prince's philanthropic organization, Love 4 One Another. The two
bonded over their shared love of charity, but divorced in 2006. They seem to have parted
on relatively friendly terms, though. After the musician's death, Testolini revealed that
Prince had been involved in years of often anonymous charitable work.
During Prince's marriage to Mayte Garcia, the couple experienced a horrible incident.
Garcia told ABC in 2017 that her favorite memory of her life with the superstar was
the day she told him about her pregnancy. Biography stated that their infant son, Amiir,
was born on October 16, 1996, but the joyful story soon took a dark turn, as
the baby suffered from a rare and serious condition called Pfeiffer syndrome.
According to Garcia's memoir, The Most Beautiful: My Life with Prince, the pregnancy had some
complications but the couple opted against medical intervention to screen for genetic
conditions. Despite several medical procedures to save his life, Amiir died when he was only
six days old.
"It was the worst thing that ever
happened to me and to him, I think."
Prince was very careful about his public image. According to The Guardian, he could be controlling,
which often made it hard for the people working with him. Rumor has it that when Prince wished
to work with publicist Alan Edwards, he was flown to Minneapolis and interviewed in a
glass cube suspended in air while Prince's music played.
Prince was driven by the need to control his own career and people who have worked for
him describe him with adjectives like "relentless" and "intimidating".
"Finish your pancake,
let's get to work. Oh it's really good, but I'm super full. Pancake. Ok.
Edwards' business partner at the time, Chris Poole, says that Prince, quote, "ran through
people" and that some people he let go didn't work again.
Prince's health started to unravel on April 7, 2016, when he saw the doctor of his bodyguard
and friend, Kirk Johnson, seeking prescriptions for nausea medication and Vitamin D. A week
later, on the night between April 14 and April 15, Prince suddenly passed out on his private
plane, which had to make an emergency landing in Illinois. As Biography describes, the public
was told that the incident happened due to a severe flu, though it appears he had actually
overdosed from the opioid drug Percocet.
Prince had managed to keep his pill addiction secret, according to Johnson. He says Prince
had been, quote, "looking just a little frail," and there had been some mood swings and the
like. However, he maintains that he had no idea that the musician had been dealing with
an addiction until the plane incident.
On April 21, 2016, Prince Rogers Nelson was found dead in an elevator at his Paisley Park
estate. He was only 57 years old. Local officials immediately launched an investigation, while
the beloved star was cremated and buried in a small ceremony just two days after his death.
News soon broke that Prince had been quietly dealing with his addiction to opioid pain
killers. He had unwittingly taken pills that seemed like Vicodin but were counterfeit
and laced with a significant amount of fentanyl, an incredibly strong synthetic
substance that is reportedly many times stronger than heroin. According to Carver County Attorney
Mark Metz, Prince's overdose was in all likelihood accidental and a search revealed assorted
painkillers on the premises. Metz stated:
"Prince's death is a tragic example that opioid addiction and overdose deaths do not discriminate
no matter the demographic."
Since April 21, 2019 lawyers had been fighting to figure out the value and rights to Prince's
estate, according to USA Today. Some tax bills had yet to be taken into account and the heirs
were clashing with the estate's administrators, as well as each other. Even the precise value
of the estate was unclear, which was at one point valued between $200-$300 million.
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