Inside Tragic Accidents Which Reportedly Caused Prince’s Downfall and Life Full of Pain

Musical legend Prince may have died from a drug overdose, but he was heavily against the use of substances. Moreover, he suffered tragically over the years and was in extreme pain before his death.

In August, the New York Post revealed that those close to Singer-Songwriter Prince disclosed that he was anti-drug growing up until well into his music career.

His cousin Pepe Willie shared that the “Pop Life” singer was not always trendy or cool simply because he was old-fashioned.

ATTITUDE TOWARDS DRUGS

However, he experimented with drugs one time in his teens. He even stunned good friend Morris Day by requesting psychedelic mushrooms. Day recalled:

"I got some mushrooms, and we both tried them. We went to a club, and he started freaking out. His mind was playing games on him.”

Day stated Prince told him that he would never do anything like that again. During the cocaine-heavy ’80s, Prince spent over 24 hours recording in the studio without using drugs and preferred eating cake.

His one-time fiancée, Susannah Melvoin, shared Prince loved cake and that she used to make him one daily to keep him going. She said:

"In his marathon sessions, he would eat cake. He loved cake, mostly vanilla with chocolate frosting."

The multi-instrumentalist did not even tolerate drug use by his band members. According to a new book titled “Nothing Compares 2 U: An Oral History of Prince,” his friends claimed he broke up with Singer Vanity because she liked getting high.

SUDDEN ADDICTION

His tour manager at the time, Alan Leeds, said if Prince saw two crew guys in a corner looking suspicious, he would have him check on it.

Leeds added he was borderline paranoid about having people using drugs around him. With that said, it came as a shock to everyone around him when he started taking ecstasy and hallucinogens.

People close to Prince recalled that those incidents marked the beginning of a life of pain for him that most probably led to the addiction that eventually took his life.

Jill Jones, a background vocalist who also dated him on and off in the 1980s, revealed Prince began doing hallucinogens with his then-lover Ingrid Chavez, including other people.

His use of drugs even affected his decision-making regarding his music. Prince was set to release an album titled “The Black Album,” but he put it on hold unexpectedly.

Writer Touré Neblett revealed that the star had a bad feeling about the album while taking ecstasy with Chavez, shelving it at the last minute.

BEING INJURED

Instead, he recorded and released “Lovesexy” but eventually released “The Black Album” in 1994. The project failed to impress dismally because of the last-minute change.

While dabbling with drugs, Prince was also dealing with constant pain from his tour injuries. For his tour supporting the album “Purple Rain,” the record producer planned to sing a song while sitting in a bathtub 10 feet off the ground.

While rehearsing the scene in a Minnesota arena, the bathtub broke, and Prince fell to the floor. Leeds said the bathtub fell 10 or 12 feet with him in it.

He explained that Prince’s back hurt every day following that incident. Then another unfortunate event occurred when he slipped and hurt his knee in Los Angeles.

Leeds continued to share that the superstar received medication and managed to complete the tour. However, he added that he does not believe that his hip and leg completely healed after that.

People close to Prince recalled that those incidents marked the beginning of a life of pain that most probably led to the addiction that eventually took his life.

HIS PASSING

Prince died on April 21, 2016, from an accidental overdose of the synthetic opioid fentanyl. He was 57 years old when discovered unresponsive in an elevator at his Paisley Park studio in Minneapolis.

A week before his death, a friend told him that he needed to stop taking painkillers. However, Prince told her he could not because his hands hurt so much that he would have to stop performing without them.

INNER CIRCLE

Joshua Welton, who co-produced some of Prince’s work and Drummer Hannah Welton, said Prince was like family to them. Welton described his inner circle at the time of his passing as close-knit.

One year after his death, Guitarist Wendy Melvoin and Keyboardist Lisa Coleman, who worked with him in the early ’80s, remembered their leading man.

The ladies talked to Esquire.com about mourning the rock icon and recalled his generous spirit. Coleman said it was riveting to explore music with Prince because he knew more than she did.

She added they connected over Canadian Singer Joni Mitchell and that he loved her. Coleman also said music ignited a fire in him and that if one played him something new, it was exciting.

Melvoin recalled the first time hearing Prince’s music in an LA club and thought it was a woman singing but found out it was a man. From that point, she became an instant fan.

At the time, she learned Coleman got a gig to play with him, and her exhilaration for him grew. She met him for the first time two years later during a music video shoot as Coleman introduced them.

ABOUT PRINCE & HIS ESTATE

Prince accumulated worldwide fame in the 1980s with albums including “1999” and “Purple Rain.” He then cemented his name to superstardom with hits like “Let’s Go Crazy” and “When Doves Cry.”

The rock star was a seven-time Grammy winner. He was born Prince Rogers Nelson on June 7, 1958, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His parents were John Nelson, a musician, and Mattie Shaw, a jazz singer.

In August 2019, his half-brother and heir Alfred Jackson also died at age 66. TMZ reported Jackson was found unresponsive by his brother in his Kansas City, Missouri home.

Police ruled the death as the result of natural causes without foul play. Jackson was the son of Shaw, Prince’s mother, who married Nelson, Prince’s father.

Prince’s passing led to years of still-settled legal wrangling over his estate. In 2017, a judge confirmed that his six siblings were his rightful heirs, including Nelson and five half-siblings Omarr, John, Norrine, Sharon, and Jackson.