Prince dead at 57

[Marita40]

I'm in MN where they've been reporting this all day. While he apparently did have the flu or something like it a few days ago no one is yet confirming what he died from. He was found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park.

 

[Ronstar]

Amazing talent. Stunning half time show in pouring rain at the 2007 super bowl.


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[HFWR]

 

[harley]

It's hard to find links to his music, because he kept such a tight handle on his library. But even those of you who say you weren't fans (most of us here?) would probably be surprised how many of his songs you know or have heard. Just the hits, like When Doves Cry, Raspberry Beret, 1999, Kiss, Little Red Corvette, Purple Rain, Let's Go Crazy, and on and on. Almost all of those were either number 1 or number 2 hits on Billboard.


I worked in Mega with a woman who went to high school with Prince back in Minneapolis. She said she vaguely knew him, and thought he was just this weird-ish guy. No idea back then he was going to be a superstar.

 

[easysurfer]

I'm in MN where they've been reporting this all day. While he apparently did have the flu or something like it a few days ago no one is yet confirming what he died from. He was found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park.

Sadly, very possible that his death was a combination of the flu and opioid use.

Most speculation on the death of Prince, who passed away Thursday at age 57, has centered on his struggle with the flu, but new reports suggest the late pop icon may also have suffered from an opioid overdose. If that’s the case, experts say the combination could be deadly, as the respiratory illness and even a regular dosage of opioids can effectively depress the body’s ability to breathe.

Gupta, who advises the Food and Drug Administation (FDA) on the problem of opioid overdose, said the reported sequence of events surrounding Prince’s death “sounds like it was an overdose.”

She pointed out that people who suffer from overdose once are likelier to suffer from one again. According to the CDC, opioid overdose deaths are now outpacing deaths from car accidents. Nearly half a million Americans died from drug overdoses between 2000 and 2014.

“Every 19 minutes, someone dies from an overdose,” Gupta said. “It’s incredibly sad.”

Awaiting Prince’s autopsy results: Experts say flu, opioid use can be deadly combination | Fox News

 

[Midpack]

Prince was a great guitar player, but not because Rolling Stone says so. They put Johnny Ramone at [-]#16[/-] and Kurt Cobain at [-]#12[/-] for example...two people who could barely play, above Eddie Van Halen at [-]#70[/-] and David Gilmour at [-]#82[/-].

Yeah, don't get me started on that...

Then again, my list would likely be a bunch of jazz and prog rock players, with the occasional Chet Atkins or Vince Gill scattered here and there...

Music Lover - really? I provided the link, how did you manage to misrepresent them all? What the heck are you looking at

Rolling Stone showed #16 was Derek Trucks, #12 was Stevie Ray Vaughan, #70 was Jack White.

Cobain was #73, Gilmour was #14, Eddie Van Halen was #8.

I'm not going to look up the rest for you, you can look again...

 

[mickeyd]

I wonder how accurate this news item is about Prince. Another victim of the entertainment community done in by illegal drugs?

Multiple sources in Moline tell us, Prince was rushed to a
hospital and doctors gave him a "save shot" ... typically
administered to counteract the effects of an opiate.


Our sources further say doctors advised Prince to stay in the hospital for 24
hours. His people demanded a private room, and when they were told that wasn't
possible ... Prince and co. decided to bail. The singer was released 3 hours
after arriving and flew home.

Read more: Prince Treated for Drug Overdose Days Before Death | TMZ.com

 

[HFWR]

I wonder how accurate this news item is about Prince. Another victim of the entertainment community done in by illegal drugs?




Read more: Prince Treated for Drug Overdose Days Before Death | TMZ.com

Though it may have been "legal" drugs. It was reported that he became opioid dependent after hip surgery.

 

[HFWR]

Yeah, don't get me started on that...

Then again, my list would likely be a bunch of jazz and prog rock players, with the occasional Chet Atkins or Vince Gill scattered here and there...

In defense of Rolling Stone, they did preface the list with "We assembled a panel of top guitarists and other experts to rank their favorites".

Favorites, not necessarily best...

 

[Major Tom]

I think it's easy with very famous people like Prince, to be swayed by the more gossipy stories we hear, and assume they are merely highly flawed eccentrics who possess great talent, and are not well-rounded personalities. These characterizations we get from the media rarely paint an accurate and fair portrait of a person though and particularly in the case of Prince, I am struck by the fact that he seems to have been a good deal more "normal" than many folk realize.

He was reportedly an accomplished player of sports in school, who hung out with the jocks, and a lifelong basketball fan. But it's his philanthropy and humanitarianism that fills me with respect for the man. If you have a few minutes, watch this clip -

 

[Music Lover]

Music Lover - really? I provided the link, how did you manage to misrepresent them all? What the heck are you looking at

Rolling Stone showed #16 was Derek Trucks, #12 was Stevie Ray Vaughan, #70 was Jack White.

Cobain was #73, Gilmour was #14, Eddie Van Halen was #8.

I'm not going to look up the rest for you, you can look again...

I didn't notice you had a link so I did a search for "Rolling Stone top 100 guitar players" and came up with a different list. Obviously they have more than one "top 100 guitar player" list. Prince isn't on this one:

Lightnin' Hopkins - 100 Greatest Guitarists: David Fricke's Picks | Rolling Stone

 

[RAE]

TMZ is reporting that Prince overdosed on Percocet (an opiate drug for pain relief) 6 days before his death, when his plane had to make an emergency landing in Illinois, so they could rush him to the hospital to save his life. He eventually made it home to Minnesota, but apparently got more prescription drugs from his doctor there, and died a few days later. They say he needed hip replacement surgery and was in constant pain (his hips were damaged from years of jumping around on stage in those heels he wore), but his religious beliefs (Jehovah's Witness) forbade him from having a blood transfusion, which is a normal part of that type of surgery. So it appears that he resorted to opiate pain meds for relief, and got addicted. Very sad.........


Prince: Percocet Triggered OD Days Before Death | TMZ.com

 

[JoeWras]

TMZ is reporting that Prince overdosed on Percocet (an opiate drug for pain relief) 6 days before his death, when his plane had to make an emergency landing in Illinois, so they could rush him to the hospital to save his life. He eventually made it home to Minnesota, but apparently got more prescription drugs from his doctor there, and died a few days later. They say he needed hip replacement surgery and was in constant pain (his hips were damaged from years of jumping around on stage in those heels he wore), but his religious beliefs (Jehovah's Witness) forbade him from having a blood transfusion, which is a normal part of that type of surgery. So it appears that he resorted to opiate pain meds for relief, and got addicted. Very sad.........


Prince: Percocet Triggered OD Days Before Death | TMZ.com

We'll get the full story eventually. This is not necessarily a "rock star OD". This can happen to anyone. It really can.

A physician friend and I were talking this morning about the problem of opiate addiction, and he says that in continuing education, they are being taught to "forget everything we said 20 years ago." Apparently, it was the standard in the 90s to treat any pain aggressively. Many docs took that to heart and would prescribe oxy, hydrocodone, percocet, etc. with even the simplest pain issues.

Well, now it is more for a last resort kind of thing. It is very easy to get addicted to anything opiate based. And when you've gone through chronic pain issues, you'll take your chances.

My doc is an NSAID advocate because of this. They have their own issues, but at least addiction isn't one of them.

 

[Ronnieboy]

We'll get the full story eventually. This is not necessarily a "rock star OD". This can happen to anyone. It really can.

A physician friend and I were talking this morning about the problem of opiate addiction, and he says that in continuing education, they are being taught to "forget everything we said 20 years ago." Apparently, it was the standard in the 90s to treat any pain aggressively. Many docs took that to heart and would prescribe oxy, hydrocodone, percocet, etc. with even the simplest pain issues.

Well, now it is more for a last resort kind of thing. It is very easy to get addicted to anything opiate based. And when you've gone through chronic pain issues, you'll take your chances.

My doc is an NSAID advocate because of this. They have their own issues, but at least addiction isn't one of them.

This is true, it seems to be a roller coaster ride. I remember years ago it was thought that not enough opiates were prescribed, that chronic pain and terminal patients were being UNDER treated because the prescribers were afraid the DEA was tracking/watching them.

Then the above started to happen and now it seems they are tightening the reigns again due to DEA crackdown not only on prescribers but pharmacies that unquestioningly fill any large quantity opiates.

Sad to hear about the passing of Prince, the 4 hour autopsy shows no trauma, now they are waiting for toxicology reports.....

 

[ERD50]

It's hard to find links to his music, because he kept such a tight handle on his library. But even those of you who say you weren't fans (most of us here?) would probably be surprised how many of his songs you know or have heard. Just the hits, like When Doves Cry, Raspberry Beret, 1999, Kiss, Little Red Corvette, Purple Rain, Let's Go Crazy, and on and on. Almost all of those were either number 1 or number 2 hits on Billboard.
...

I was one of those who felt he was a very talented guitar player, but his music overall didn't do much for me.

But I was aware of all those hits, and knew them as Prince songs (maybe not "Let's Go Crazy", but I might recognize it if I heard it).

But the link HFWR posted - wow, that's some serious playing, performance, and musicianship (IMO). It's not hit material, but it is impressive, and probably the best I've seen of him.

-ERD50

 

[samclem]

Then the above started to happen and now it seems they are tightening the reigns again due to DEA crackdown not only on prescribers but pharmacies that unquestioningly fill any large quantity opiates

. . . And this crackdown on prescription opiates has reduced their availability on the black market, driven up street prices, and resulted in the much wider use of heroin by opiate addicts (as a now-cheaper and more widely available alternative to stolen/black-market prescription opiates). The use of heroin of widely varying strength and cut with fentanyl and God-knows-what other poisons, is resulting in an epidemic of OD deaths.

 

[6miths]

He was a great talent. I grew up in Niagara and was a couple years younger than Denise Matthews who met Prince in 1980 and became Vanity. She was part of the group Vanity 6 and sang many of his songs. Coincidentally, she died February 16 this year at age 57.

 

[easysurfer]

We'll get the full story eventually. This is not necessarily a "rock star OD". This can happen to anyone. It really can.

...

+1. If this is the cause of his death, I hope that after the celebration (rightfully so) of his life and music, that the public eye doesn't forget just how lethal the opioids can be.

When hearing the news, my first thought was so young at 57. Then hearing that he was on pain medication for hip pain, my first thought was probably overdose (accidental or overuse). Sad.

 

[MRG]

The link shows a disturbing trend with OD deaths from opioid and herion use. It is very sad.

"The U.S. government does not track death rates for every drug. However, the*National Center for Health Statistics*at the*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention*does collect information on many of the more commonly used drugs. The CDC also has a searchable database, called*CDC Wonder.

National Overdose Deaths—Number of Deaths from Prescription Drugs. The figure above is a bar chart showing the total number of U.S. overdose deaths involving prescription drugs from 2001 to 2014. The chart is overlayed by a line graph showing the number of deaths by females and males. From 2001 to 2014 there was a 2.8-fold increase in the total number of deaths."



https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates

 

[HFWR]

But the link HFWR posted - wow, that's some serious playing, performance, and musicianship (IMO). It's not hit material, but it is impressive, and probably the best I've seen of him.







-ERD50

You're welcome.

No way I'd post the pop stuff. I have a reputation to uphold! Btw, there's a Facebook group called Jazz Rock Fusion worth checking out, as lots of links to youtube videos get posted there. The video I linked was courtesy of a post on that group.

You have to "join", but they'll let anyone in, as evidenced by the occasional weird tattooed crotch post, and the fact that I'm a member...

 

[JoeWras]

. . . And this crackdown on prescription opiates has reduced their availability on the black market, driven up street prices, and resulted in the much wider use of heroin by opiate addicts (as a now-cheaper and more widely available alternative to stolen/black-market prescription opiates). The use of heroin of widely varying strength and cut with fentanyl and God-knows-what other poisons, is resulting in an epidemic of OD deaths.

All true. But you know what? We nearly forgot about heroin in the 80s. Maybe it was the coke, maybe "just say no", maybe fear of needles and AIDs, but it went away.

The theory is the heroin rebounded after people looked for alternates after their prescription was taken away. I.E. the prescriptions were the gateway.

Watch a few episodes of Intervention, and this is the typical story with addicts over 30. But what is disturbing is now kids are going right to it from the start, and it is darn near impossible to stop once they do.

 

[Mulligan]

I knew his partying days were long gone, but I did find this comment interesting.

Close followers of Prince find it hard to believe that anything sinister could have played into his death. He was a Jehovah’s Witness and obsessively healthy eater. You couldn’t drink, smoke or even curse at his Paisley parties.

“Better eat your cheeseburger before you get to Paisley,” Van Jones, a political commentator and activist who was a friend of Prince’s, said he used to think before visiting Prince.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/music/cele...-of-prince’s-final-days/ar-BBs8uk9?li=BBnb7Kz


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[easysurfer]

I knew his partying days were long gone, but I did find this comment interesting.

Close followers of Prince find it hard to believe that anything sinister could have played into his death. He was a Jehovah’s Witness and obsessively healthy eater. You couldn’t drink, smoke or even curse at his Paisley parties.

“Better eat your cheeseburger before you get to Paisley,” Van Jones, a political commentator and activist who was a friend of Prince’s, said he used to think before visiting Prince.

Clues to the Mystery of Prince’s Final Days


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All the more reason, IMO, to think probably painkiller overuse or accidental overdose instead of OD such as drug abuse to get a high.

 

[Fedup]

It's sad, I like his music. But he is not dying young. My sister just sent me an obituary of a friend's son who just died at 33.


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[haha]

If 1959 was the year the music died, 2016 is the year the music was utterly annihilated, cremated, pulverized and vaporized.

And yet, Keith Richards lives on. Go figure.

Organic food.