Musical Legend Prince Dead at 57

Prince, the seven time Grammy Award winning artist, died this morning in his home recording studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota. The singer had been hospitalized in Illinois last week for what his representative said at the time was the flu, which he had been battling for weeks, leading to the cancellation of two shows on his “Piano and a Microphone” tour. He was released after three hours and returned to his home in Minnesota.

Born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis on June 7, 1958, Prince sold more than 100 million records over the course of his career, fusing rock, pop, funk and R&B. Prince released more than three dozen albums over his four-decade career, and won an Academy Award for best original song score for the 1984 film “Purple Rain.” He scored more than 50 top 40 hits around the world since 1979, including such songs as “When Doves Cry,” “1999,” “Little Red Corvette” and “Raspberry Beret.” He was inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

During the 1980s, at the height of his popularity, Prince was most frequently compared to Michael Jackson. He collaborated with a wide array of music acts including Sheena Easton, Stevie Nicks, Kate Bush, Madonna, Patti LaBelle, Chaka Khan, Cyndi Lauper and his former lover Sheila E.

Prince was married two times — the first time to his backup dancer Mayte Garcia. They split in 2000. He then married Manuela Testolini … but they split in 2006.