Pop artist Prince’s publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, told The Associated Press that the music icon was found dead at his home on Thursday in Chanhassen.
He was found unresponsive at his Minnesota home and was later declared dead, but the body couldn’t be identified initially, said Carver County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Jason Kamerud.
Kamerud had declined to say if the person was Prince and a representative for the local medical examiner declined to comment.
The singer, songwriter, arranger, and instrumentalist was widely acclaimed as one of the most inventive musicians of his era, drawing upon influences ranging from James Brown to the Beatles to Jimi Hendrix. His hits included Little Red Corvette, Let’s Go Crazy and When Doves Cry.
The Minneapolis native broke through in the late 1970s with the hits Wanna Be Your Lover and soared over the following decade with albums such as 1999 and Purple Rain.
The title song from 1999 includes one of the most widely quoted refrains of popular culture: “Tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1999.”
Here he is, nailing The Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps: