Prince's passing Celebs reactions,...... Prince and Mayte Garcia's Tragic Love Affair: ...

Wonderwall

By Wonderwall.com Editors 15 hrs ago

 Prince abruptly passed away on Thursday morning, sending shockwaves though the entire entertainment industry. He was 57. Prince's death comes just a week after his plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Illinois. Little was known about the incident, but the in-flight medical emergency came following two concerts in the same night, concerts he had rescheduled due to a bout with the flu. Prince's influence on music is well documented, being one of the highest selling artists of all time. He has won seven Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. The entertainment world was nearly dumbstruck at the news of his sudden passing, with many taking to social media to pay their respects to the "Purple Rain" singer. Click through to see the entertainment world's reactions...

10 Things You May Not Have Known About Prince

Suzy Byrne

Editor

Prince performing at Madison Square Garden in 2011. (Photo: Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

While Prince had been famous for nearly four decades, there was more than a little of an air
 of mystery around him. 

Sure, the 5-foot-2 “Purple Rain” singer was known for his big hair, heels, style, and talent
, but there was a reason why he lived behind the gates of Paisley Park, the sprawling estate featuring a 65,000-square-foot studio complex in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen.
And why events held there carried a strict no-cellphone policy. Even reporters who
 interviewed him there were instructed not to bring a camera, mobile phone, or tape
 recorder.

 

Despite his stringent rules, tidbits about the supersecret star’s life have trickled out — and they’re as incredible as his musical talent was. Here we rounded up some of the most interesting little-known facts about the Artist Once Again Known as Prince, and we hope you enjoy reading them as you try to digest his sudden and sad passing…

1. His name really was Prince. Prince Rogers Nelson to be exact. Prince’s dad was a jazz pianist and songwriter who went by the stage name Prince Rogers. He gave the name to his son “because I wanted him to do everything I wanted to do,” he said, according to the 2003 book Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince. 

Paisley Park Studios circa 1990 — as you can probably tell by the cars. (Photo: Getty Images)

2. He went door-to-door for the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Prince was introduced to the religion by the musician Larry Graham. In 2008, the “1999” singer told the New Yorker he attended meetings at a local Kingdom Hall and, like his fellow witnesses, he went door-to-door now and then to proselytize. “Sometimes people act surprised, but mostly they’re really cool about it,” he said.  

3. He was a Ping-Pong ace. In 2014, the Associated Press reported that a Ping-Pong table was a centerpiece outside the recording studios. He’s described as a “pretty deft player.” His footwear for the game? “White shoes with acrylic heels lighting up blue with every move.” Of course. 

Related: Prince’s Most Iconic Looks

4. He also had game: While he was barely over 5 feet tall, he was a baller. In an episode of Chappelle’s Show, Charlie Murphy talked about partying with Prince in the ’80s. The superstar challenged him to a pickup game of basketball. “This cat could ball,” said Murphy, who noted that he played in a “Zorro-type outfit.”  

Prince, at a basketball game in 2004, had some strong shooting skills of his own. (Photo: Getty Images)

5. He would wear platform flip-flops with socks and yoga pants: “It’s perhaps worth noting that [his feet] are wearing a pair of flip-flops with huge platform soles teamed with socks,” a writer from The Guardian noted in 2015. “The socks and flip-flops are white, as is the rest of his outfit.” It’s a style that he long appreciated. In his 2008 New Yorker profile, it said, “Prince padded into the kitchen, a small 50-year-old man in yoga pants and a big sweater, wearing platform flip-flops over white socks, like a geisha.”

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Celebrity

 Prince and Mayte Garcia's Tragic Love

 Affair:

staff@people.com (Karen Mizoguchi),People 9 hours ago

Prince's first wife Mayte Garcia is mourning the loss of her former spouse telling PEOPLE, "This man was my everything, we had a family. I am beyond deeply saddened and devastated."
Here, PEOPLE takes a look at their loving relationship that would ultimately end in tragedy. For three seasons (from 2012 - 2014), Garcia, 42, was featured as a cast member on VH1's reality series Hollywood Exes in which she opened up about her failed marriage to Prince (born Prince Rogers Nelson) as well as where they first met and how they fell in love.
It was in 1990 when Garcia met the late music legend at a concert in Spain at just 16-years-old. Her mother Janelle, a big Prince fan, had passed on a video cassette of her daughter performing belly dancing routines to one of Prince's backup dancers. Five days later after watching the tape, Prince – who was previously engaged to Susannah Melvoin – hired Garcia to dance with his Diamonds and Pearls tour. His fondness for her even enabled her to record English and Spanish vocals for his albums. Six years later on Valentine's Day 1996, Prince and Garcia – who was 22 at the time – wed in his hometown Minneapolis. The muse behind his 1995 hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" designed her own wedding dress with the help of Prince's wardrobe designer. "I can't really pinpoint a time when it became romantic, I just think it evolved through the heavens," she said in her cast profile interview for season 1 of Hollywood Exes. "Being a wife, I loved it. He's true to what you guys think, of course, he's a human being."
Two months later, Garcia was pregnant.
In late 1996, Garcia gave birth to the couple's son, Boy Gregory. However, the newborn would only live a week after being born with Pfeiffer syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects the skull and bones in the hands and feet. The death of their son devastated them both. "It was really sad. I think he was really looking forward to being a father," Prince's dancer Lindsley Allen, who worked with the 7-time Grammy winner from 1992 - 1997 on The World In A Day tour, shares with PEOPLE. "It was very difficult for them and I don't think they really recovered from that. I felt a very paternal feeling from him but yet that was something that he never really had known." Adding, "I remember they had built a swing set out in the back and they had a playroom built." Fondly remembering the better times between them, Allen said: "They had a great love for each other. They had a twinkle in their eye." She added: "They definitely loved working together. In the studio it seemed like they had a great respect for one and other. He loved her as a beautiful dancer and her heart and soul is very genuine and sweet." Soon after Boy Gregory's death, Garcia became pregnant and miscarried. The death of their two children would take a toll on their marriage. "To lose two babies is really scary. It really caught on me emotionally, physically, everything. It took me at least 15 years to get over it and still, to this day, I miss my son," she later shared to the Mirror. "I believe a child dying between a couple either makes you stronger or it doesn't. For me, it was very, very hard to move forward and for us as a couple I think it probably broke us."
Prince and Garcia's union was annulled on their 3-year anniversary in 1999 and they were officially divorced in 2000.
"When I got divorced, it was another culture shock. It was going from this world I had been into since the age of 16 to literally standing on the streets of New York in kind of shock," Garcia said in her VH1 interview. "I became a hermit. I didn’t go out much because I was scared to go out because you’re so used to being protected." A year later in 2001, Prince married Testolini Nelson, a former employee at Prince's charitable foundation. She filed for divorce in 2006.
The music icon was found dead at his Paisley Park compound in Chanhassen, Minnesota, on Thursday, the Carver County Sheriff's Office announced. He was 57. Prince was found unresponsive in an elevator about 9:45 a.m. after sheriff's deputies received a call for medical help from his Paisley Park Studios home. He was pronounced dead less than 25 minutes later, authorities in Minnesota say. A cause of death has not been determined.
During his storied career, the "Purple Rain" singer was notably linked to Carmen Electra, former collaborator Sheila E. and '80s pop star Vanity, who died in February this year, also at age 57.
"The world has lost a truly incredible spirit and musical genius. What a blessing it is to be one of the chosen ones who had the chance to work so closely with him," Electra, 44, told PEOPLE following Prince's death.
"The meaning of the word loss has taken on a new meaning this day," Sheila E. said to PEOPLE in a statement. "Thank God love lives forever."

Celebrity

Prince's Ex-Wife Speaks Out After His Death: "He's With Our Son Now"

PopSugar 10 hours ago

Prince tragically passed away on Thursday at the age of 57, and now his ex-wife, Mayte Garcia, is speaking out about her tremendous loss. "I can't even think of the words of what I'm feeling," she told People in an exclusive statement through her manager, Gladys Gonzalez. "This man was my everything, we had a family. I am beyond deeply saddened and devastated." Mayte first met the legendary singer in 1990 when she was hired to dance on one of his tours, and the two went on to tie the knot in 1996. She was also the inspiration behind his song, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World." The couple had one son together, Gregory, who tragically passed away one week after birth from Pfeiffer syndrome, ...

Read more

Celebrity

Mayte Garcia Says Prince Was 'My Everything': 'He's with Our Son Now'

staff@people.com (Melody Chiu),People 15 hours ago

She was the inspiration behind Prince's hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," and now Mayte Garcia is mourning the loss of her former husband, whom she tells PEOPLE exclusively was her "everything."
"I can't even think of the words of what I'm feeling," says Garcia, who also shared a photo with PEOPLE of herself with Prince that hangs in her home, in a statement through her manager Gladys Gonzalez. "This man was my everything, we had a family. I am beyond deeply saddened and devastated." Garcia first met Prince in 1990 and was ultimately hired to dance on one of his tours. The singer-songwriter went on to produce an album for her and they wed in 1996 in Minneapolis. 

In 1996, Garcia and Prince lost a son, Gregory, a week after he was born to Pfeiffer syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects the skull and bones in the hands and feet. They formally divorced in 2000. "I loved him then, I love him now and will love him eternally," she continues. "He's with our son now."

Remembering Prince: Fans Recall Legendary Singer's Greatest Moments

The seven-time Grammy winner was found dead at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota, according to the Carver County's Sheriff Office, which is currently investigating the circumstances of his death.
"It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer, Prince Rogers Nelson, has died at his Paisley Park residence this morning at the age of 57," his publicist confirmed. "There are no further details as to the cause of death at this time."

REMEMBER WHEN?

Remember When Prince Kicked Kim Kardashian Off Stage?

Taryn Ryder

Writer, Yahoo Celebrity

April 21, 2016

View photos

Prince outsparkled Kim Kardashian at a concert in February 2011. (Photo: Globe Photos)

Prince adored beautiful women, but it wasn’t love at first sight with Kim Kardashian. 

As we remember the music legend, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 57, let’s look back at one of our favorite antics from the Purple Rain singer … Remember that time he kicked Kim Kardashian off his stage? 

The year was 2011. If you need a refresher on just how long ago that really was, we were in Kim’s Kris Humphries era. Prince pulled the reality TV star up on stage during his concert at Madison Square Garden only to give her the boot shortly after, as seen in this video. 

View photos

It all started when Prince tried to dance with a motionless Kim. Seriously, Prince wanted to dance with her and she just stood there. 

“Get off the stage,” he eventually said. Maybe Prince was annoyed because she was too busy live-tweeting the moment to actually live in the moment?

Related: 10 Things You May Not Have Known About Prince

“OMG Prince just pulled me up on stage!!! I’m shaking!!!!” she shared with her followers. That tweet was quickly followed up with an explanation of why she was shooed away. “I was so nervous, I froze when Prince touched me!” she tweeted.    

Prince had a hard time getting Kim to bust a move. (Photo: Globe Photos, Inc.)

Apparently, the Grammy winner was in a forgiving mood that fateful February night. 

“Went up on stage AGAIN! This time I redeemed myself. We all danced while Prince played the piano! Wow! What a night!” Kim later wrote. 

If you want another laugh, this is what Humphries had to say about his lady love’s awkward moment with Prince: “Kim got shy on stage. She looked gorgeous, though!” 

Today, this is what the NBA player tweeted: “RIP to Prince Rogers Nelson, the greatest musician of all time. Sad day. #minnesota #goat #Purplerain” 

Oh, Prince. You will be missed.

How Prince Rebelled Against the Music Industry

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The New York Times

By BEN SISARIO 12 hrs ago

Prince Reportedly Treated for Drug Overdose Before Death; 911 Details Released

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© Kevin Winter/Getty Images Prince in 2015. Millions of fans will remember Prince as a master of funk, a sex symbol and the creator of indelible hits like “1999” and “When Doves Cry.”
But within the music business, Prince — who died on Thursday at 57 — was also a trailblazing and sometimes controversial champion for his rights as an artist. In the 1990s he was in open conflict with the music industry, protesting the major-label system by writing the word “slave” on his cheek and changing his name to an unpronounceable glyph.
Later, as the music world moved online, Prince made sometimes mystifying pronouncements about the Internet, and policed his music rights so carefully that most of his songs were unavailable not only on jukebox streaming services like Spotify but also on Pandora and YouTube.
 
His moves were sometimes mocked as mere eccentricity. But he is now seen as an early advocate of the kind of experimentation and artistic control that has become an essential tool of the most forward-thinking pop stars.
 
“If you want to see his influence, all you have to do is look at what’s happening today, where you have Kanye West releasing an album on different platforms and adding to it as he goes along, or Drake saying, ‘You know what, I’ve got a new record and I’m just going to drop it,’” said Jimmy Jam, the producer who was a longtime associate of Prince, and a former chairman of the Recording Academy, the organization that presents the Grammy Awards.
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“Those types of things, what the music business turned into,” Jimmy Jam added, “a lot of that is directly related to the artistic freedoms that Prince was looking for.”
For Prince, the key was always control. His battles in the early 1990s with Warner Bros., the record company that had signed him at the beginning of his career, were primarily over the label’s demands that he release no more than one album a year, a pace that matched the industry’s marketing patterns.
 
The restrictions rankled Prince, who publicly rebelled and eventually started his own label, NPG Records. In 1996 he released a triple album, “Emancipation,” through a deal with EMI that allowed him to put out albums when he wished.
“The music, for me, doesn’t come on a schedule,” Prince told The New York Times in 1996. “The main idea is not supposed to be, ‘How many different ways can we sell it?’ That’s so far away from the true spirit of what music is.”
Prince’s last Top 10 hit was “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World,” which went to No. 3 in 1994. And critics complained that he released too much music of too little quality. But he continued to break ground.
In 2004, he gave away copies of his CD “Musicology” with tickets to his concerts, a strategy that helped him move 632,000 copies of the album in five weeks but also led Billboard to change its chart rules. In 2007, copies of his album “Planet Earth” were given away in the British newspaper The Mail on Sunday; that year, he also gave an electrifying performance at the Super Bowl halftime show.
Around the same time, Prince, who had experimented with the online world in the 1990s, was emerging as an apparent enemy of the Internet. In 2010, he told The Mirror, a British newspaper, that “the Internet’s completely over,” for which he was ridiculed online. He later clarified that his comment was about money that artists can earn online. “What I meant was that the Internet was over for anyone who wants to get paid, and I was right about that,” he told The Guardian last year.
In recent years, he took full control of his music rights. That included ownership of his music publishing — the copyrights for songwriting — and his recordings, which led to a new deal with Warner Bros. in 2014. (He told The Associated Press that there were no hard feelings: “I don’t deal in history nor should they.”) That control let him withdraw his music from most streaming services, although he left his catalog on Tidal, the subscription service bought last year by Jay Z. And like Drake and Mr. West, he made use of platforms like SoundCloud to post new tracks and remove them as he saw fit.
For fans, one of the biggest questions is what will happen to his fabled “vault” of unreleased recordings. According to Jimmy Jam, that material was already building by the time of the early 1980s albums “Controversy” and “1999.”
“If you ever gave him an answer that had anything to do with ‘because that’s the way we have always done it,’ that was absolutely the wrong answer to give to Prince,” Jimmy Jam said. “It was, ‘Why can’t we do it a different way? Why can’t we do it better?’”
Slideshow: A master of pop music ...

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