Deputies Found Prince Unresponsive in Elevator, CPR Failed: AP

Prince's death is under investigation, Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson told the Associated Press

Sheriff's officials in Minnesota say deputies found music superstar Prince unresponsive in an elevator after they were summoned to his suburban Minneapolis compound.

Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson says first responders tried CPR but couldn't revive the 57-year-old musician. Olson says Prince was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m. Thursday, about half an hour after deputies arrived.

Olson says the death is under investigation.

Hundreds of fans have gathered outside Prince's Paisley Park studio to mourn his death.

Prince, widely acclaimed as one of the most inventive and influential 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.

"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," publicist Yvette Noel-Schure said.

No details were immediately released amid the outpouring of shock and grief from fans, musicians and celebrities online. Prince had been fighting the flu for several weeks, a rep said last week, after his plane made an emergency landing on Friday because he was ill.

The Minneapolis native, born Prince Rogers Nelson, stood just 5 feet 2 inches tall, 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 AP in 2014. "I was just trying to get here."

The same year, Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll of Fame, which hailed him as a musical and social trailblazer.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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