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Prince Rogers Nelson’s Autopsy, Fan Tributes, And Cause Of Death, As The World Mourns

By Gail Delaney
Published on: 16:44 PST, Apr 23, 2016

Prince Rogers Nelson was cremated right after the autopsy, as his family and friends gathered at Paisley Park Studios to pay their respects in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on April 23, 2016. Outside Prince’s Paisley Park Studios, fans gathered to leave hand-written notes, purple balloons, pictures, and flowers. The fence on the property was filled with loving tributes to Prince, who sang the song “Purple Rain.”

“A few hours ago, Prince was celebrated by a small group of his most beloved: family, friends, and his musicians, in a private, beautiful ceremony to say a loving goodbye. Prince’s remains have been cremated and their final storage will remain private. We ask for your blessings and prayers of comfort for his family and close friends at this time. The cause of death remains unknown and it will be at least four weeks before we receive the results of the autopsy. An announcement will be made at a future date for a musical celebration,” Yvette Noel-Schure said in a statement.

Family and close friends of Prince Rogers Nelson gathered together for a small family memorial service. Those in attendance included Prince’s ex-fiancé and former drummer, Sheila E, bassist Larry Graham, Prince’s assistant Meron, and, Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson and her husband Maurice Phillips. Even the mayor of Chanhassen, Denny Laufenburger, attended the gathering.

Larry Graham greeted and hugged the gathered fans who stood outside the Paisley Park gates.

“I appreciate the support, love and all the hugs. We appreciate that. And I know that Sheila feels the same way that I feel, that Prince made us all a better musician. Spiritually is the most important thing, he was a very spiritual man. But as a musician, he pushed is he made us better and so we miss him deeply.”

Sheila E. also thanked the fans.

“Thank you guys very much. Thank you for being here. We appreciate it.”

Tyka Nelson also greeted the fans.

“Thank you for coming. Thank you for loving him.”

To show how much Prince Rogers Nelson’s fans were appreciated and loved, people from the complex handed out big, round boxes in Prince’s signature color: purple. When the fans opened them up, they found T-shirts and “copies of a tour book from Prince’s days with the New Power Generation.”

Dave Chappelle was a good friend of Prince Rogers Nelson. Years ago, Dave did a skit about Prince titled “Game: Blouses.” While many artists may have been offended if Dave had made fun of them in this way, Prince did not. In fact, Prince liked the skit and he used a picture of Chappelle dressed up like Prince with a plate of pancakes on the cover of his 2013 album, Breakfast Can Wait.

Dave said he learned about Prince Rogers Nelson’s death when his phone started ringing off the hook. People were calling him to hear his reaction to the singer’s death. Chappelle was scheduled to do a stand-up act in San Francisco and according to the San Francisco Chronicle; he was on the verge of canceling until his band talked to him.

Dave said his band members told him, “Prince would not condone that.” So during his performance, he told the audience, “This is black 9/11. It’s so much better that we grieve together.”

“As a city, they exported a musical giant. It says a lot about them that at the height of his fame he chose to stay in Minneapolis, His admirers are a community that spans the globe. His legacy is an immense offering of music, love and laughter. And a fight for fairness to artist. Nothing of this world will begin to fill the void of his absence except his memory. Scientifically a memory is almost neurologically identical to an experience. So remember your loved ones often. Forget their faults and remember the best of what they made you feel. In that way… all of us are immortal gifts to one another that keeps on giving.”

Prince Rogers Nelson’s music and movies touched many people and even helped some of them quit drugs and alcohol. Purple Rain was a movie about Prince’s life, he starred in it himself, and the music was his. Eric Clapton posted on Facebook what he experienced when he watched that movie.

“I’m so sad about the death of Prince, he was a true genius, and a huge inspiration for me, in a very real way….

“In the eighties, I was out on the road in a massive downward spiral with drink and drugs, I saw Purple Rain in a cinema in Canada, I had no idea who he was, it was like a bolt of lightning!…
In the middle of my depression, and the dreadful state of the music culture at that time it gave me hope, he was like a light in the darkness…I went back to my hotel, and surrounded by empty beer cans, wrote Holy Mother….I can’t believe he’s gone….”

Prince appeared on Saturday Night Live in 1981, 2006, and 2014. To honor him, SNL executives put together a special tribute show that airs on April 23 at its regular time.

Whether Prince knew his movie would have the power to help people struggling with drugs and alcohol is unknown, but it shows how music and movies can reach people when they are at their lowest point.

When news broke that Prince died, his music sales soared. People bought over 1 million Prince songs and 231,000 albums. The most popular album downloaded was The Very Best of Prince, and the most popular song is “Purple Rain.”

The autopsy concluded on Friday and his body was released to the family, with the cremation done shortly afterward. The results of the autopsy will take weeks or even months before the cause of death is determined. Meanwhile, people speculate on why Prince died in the first place.

Some think Prince was taking drugs and he overdosed. Another report said that Prince was trying to get over the flu, but it changed into walking pneumonia. Others wonder if he had a problem with the narcotic, Percocet. In 2010, Prince underwent hip surgery and he took Percocet for the pain.

Strangely, Prince’s song “Let’s Go Crazy” mentions an elevator in the lyrics and he did not like elevators.

“One time when I was with him privately, he said, ‘You know what the elevator is, right?’ I said, ‘No, what’s the elevator?’ He said, ‘Well, the elevator is the devil. It scared me. I don’t like to talk like that, but he said that. So, for me, it was like really haunting when I read that he was found in an elevator,” L.A. Reid told Entertainment Tonight.

Prince was found unresponsive in an elevator when emergency personnel responded to a call that came through. They arrived at the Paisley Park Studios at 9:43 a.m. on April 21, 2016.

“First responders attempted to provide lifesaving CPR, but were unable to revive the victim.

“He was pronounced deceased at 10:07 a.m. He has been identified as Prince Rogers Nelson of Chanhassen.”

[Photo by Jose Luis Magan/AP Images]

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