Publicist: Pop superstar Prince dies at his Minnesota home
<p>FILE - In this Nov. 22, 2015 file photo, Prince presents the award for favorite album - soul/R&B at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles. Authorities are investigating a death at Paisley Park, where pop superstar Prince has his recording studios. Jason Kamerud, Carver County chief sheriff's deputy, tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the investigation began on Thursday morning, April 21, 2016. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)</p>
<p>FILE - In this Nov. 14, 2010 file photo, musician Prince performs in Yas Island, on the final night of the F1 motor race meeting in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Prince's publicist has confirmed that Prince died at his his home, Thursday, April 21, 2016. He was 57. (AP Photo/Nousha Salimi, File)</p>
<p>FILE - In this Jan. 22, 1985 file photo, Prince performs in concert at Riverfront Coliseum during his Purple Rain Tour in Cincinnati, Ohio. Prince's publicist has confirmed that Prince died at his his home in Minnesota, Thursday, April 21, 2016. He was 57. (AP Photo/Rob Burns, File)</p>
<p>FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2007 file photo, Prince performs during the halftime show at Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium in Miami. Prince's publicist has confirmed that Prince died at his home in Minnesota, Thursday, April 21, 2016. He was 57. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)</p>
A publicist for Prince says the pop music superstar has died at his home in suburban Minneapolis
CHANHASSEN, Minn. (AP) — Pop superstar Prince, who was widely acclaimed as one of the most inventive musicians of his era with hits including "Little Red Corvette," ''Let's Go Crazy" and "When Doves Cry," was found dead at his home on Thursday in suburban Minneapolis, according to his publicist.
His publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, told The Associated Press that the music icon died at his home in Chanhassen. No details were immediately released.
The man born Prince Rogers Nelson stood just 5 feet, 2 inches and seemed to summon the most original and compelling sounds at will, whether playing guitar in a flamboyant style that openly drew upon Jimi Hendrix, switching his vocals from a nasally scream to an erotic falsetto or turning out album after album of stunningly original material. Among his other notable releases: "Sign O' the Times," ''Graffiti Bridge" and "The Black Album."
He was also fiercely protective of his independence, battling his record company over control of his material and even his name. Prince once wrote "slave" on his face in protest of not owning his work and famously battled and then departed his label, Warner Bros., before returning a few years ago.
"What's happening now is the position that I've always wanted to be in," Prince told The Associated Press in 2014. "I was just trying to get here."
In 2004, Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll of Fame, which hailed him as a musical and social trailblazer.
"He rewrote the rulebook, forging a synthesis of black funk and white rock that served as a blueprint for cutting-edge music in the Eighties," reads the Hall's dedication. "Prince made dance music that rocked and rock music that had a bristling, funky backbone. From the beginning, Prince and his music were androgynous, sly, sexy and provocative."
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Moody and Italie reported from New York.