Questions about the cause of Prince’s death may take a while to be answered.
A medical examiner based in Anoka County conducted an autopsy on the body of the legendary music artist Friday. It was completed at 1 p.m. and the body was turned over to family members later in the day.
Results of the autopsy and toxicology testing may take days to weeks, according to the chief medical examiner for the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office.
There was no indication of violence or suicide involved in Prince’s death, Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson said during a news conference Friday afternoon.
Olson declined to address speculative reports about the death of the 57-year-old musician, who was born Prince Rogers Nelson.
“I don’t know if I can dispel all the rumors that are out there,” he said. “This is under investigation.”
When asked by reporters, Olson said his officers do carry Narcan, an opiate antidote. However, he added that it was not administered at Paisley Park on Thursday.
TMZ: EARLIER OVERDOSE
TMZ reported Friday morning that Prince had overdosed on the prescription painkiller Percocet days before his death. TMZ was first to report Prince’s death Thursday.
Olson said his agency has never had any calls to Paisley Park involving Prince himself, though there had been calls to the complex linked to the concerts held there.
“He’d been a longtime member of the community and really a good neighbor for everybody,” Olson said.
The mood at Paisley Park on Thursday was somber, Olson said. Three employees were there when law enforcement arrived.
“They were certainly shook by what had happened,” he said.
Prince was last seen at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Olson said, when he was dropped off by an acquaintance at Paisley Park.
The next morning, members of Prince’s staff tried to reach him but were unsuccessful. They went to Paisley Park and found him collapsed in an elevator on the first floor shortly before 10 a.m. He had been alone at Paisley Park, Olson said.
Martha Weaver, a spokeswoman for Dr. A. Quinn Strobl, the chief medical examiner, said the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office was conducting a “meticulous” and “complete exam,” which will include not only Prince’s state at the time of death but also his medical history.
CROWDS PAY RESPECTS
After news of Prince’s death spread, crowds gathered outside Paisley Park and the First Avenue music club in downtown Minneapolis. Purple flower memorials were spread across a fence outside Paisley Park on Friday afternoon.
Crowds will be allowed to continue to gather outside Paisley Park as long as family and staff at the complex are OK with it, Olson said. The situation will be re-evaluated Monday.
Law enforcement officials did execute a search warrant at Paisley Park on Thursday, but Olson described it as common procedure.
Also Friday, as family members gathered at Paisley Park, Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson reportedly came out to thank those outside.
“He loved all of you,” she told the crowd, according to Sky News. “Thank you for loving him back.”
HEALTH CONCERNS SWIRLED
Questions about Prince’s health swirled in the days before his death Thursday.
Last weekend at a dance party at Paisley Park, he reassured attendees that he was OK a day after a health scare forced an emergency landing of his plane in Moline, Ill.
In recent weeks, the notoriously reclusive musician had been seen in public several times — including at Minneapolis’ Dakota Jazz Club to take in a performance by singer Lizz Wright just two days before he died.
On Saturday, Prince stopped at the Electric Fetus in Minneapolis with an entourage to purchase several CDs.
Prince performed two 80-minute sets in one night at the Fox Theater in Atlanta on April 14. The show — to make up for a canceled appearance the week before — featured him playing his hits “Little Red Corvette,” “Nothing Compares 2 U” and “Pop Life” on a baby grand piano.
While talking to the crowd between songs, he joked about having been “under the weather,” giving a slight smile. His voice reportedly seemed a bit weak at times when he spoke, but he sounded fine when singing during the 80-minute show.
He sat at his piano for most of the show but stood up at times to pound the keys and walked around the piano a couple of times, soaking up cheers.
His former percussionist and one-time fiancee Sheila E. told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday that Prince damaged his hips while performing, saying he jumped off risers while wearing high heels during his “Purple Rain” days and that “it damaged parts of his body.”
Prince was seen in recent years using a cane.
Prince revealed in a 2009 interview with Tavis Smiley that he was “born epileptic” and had seizures when he was young. It’s unclear if his epilepsy carried into adulthood.
A promoter says Prince was slated to perform a surprise set of shows earlier this week in St. Louis but canceled last week because of health concerns.
Promoter Steve Litman said Friday that he’d been working for weeks to set up two surprise pop-up shows April 18 at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis.
Prince, a Jehovah’s Witness, had a reputation for clean living. In 2009, he told an interviewer with the New York Times that he didn’t do drugs “or I’d give you a joint” to share while they listened to music.
A FINAL DANCE PARTY
Jeremiah Freed, who runs the website drfunkenberry.com and who got to know Prince after writing about him over the years, said he last saw Prince at the dance party at Paisley Park last weekend.
Freed said he believed Prince held the party to show everyone he was fine.
Prince made a brief appearance, but Freed said he didn’t have any one-on-one time with the musician that night. Freed said Prince showed off a new purple piano he had received as a gift, as well as a purple guitar, but seemed upset about the reports of illness.
“When he had to talk about the stories going on, he didn’t seem too pleased. It was kind of like, ‘I’m here. I’m good,’ ” Freed said, adding that Prince told the crowd: “Just wait a few days before saying your prayers.”
This report contains information from the Associated Press.
