Prince ‘didn’t want to live past 35’
In an interview to mark the upcoming 10th death anniversary of the music icon, one of Prince’s closest friends and collaborators has declared the singer once told him he didn’t want to live past 35.
Prince didn’t want to live past 35.
The Purple Rain singer’s apparent death wish was revealed in a series of chats with members of his closest family, friends and collaborators to mark the 10th anniversary of his death.
Prince passed away on 21 April aged 57.
The music icon was found unresponsive in an elevator at his sprawling Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
His death was later ruled an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.
As part of a series of interviews to commemorate his shock passing,
His lighting director and friend LeRoy Bennett said: “When he was about 26 he told me he didn’t want to live past 35: we’re all lucky that we had a couple more decades with him.”
He added about working with Prince – born Prince Rogers Nelson: “I don’t think Prince realised how extraordinary he was and how other mortals weren’t able to keep up.
“He’d do a two-hour soundcheck, play a show, take us all back to the hotel to watch the video of the show all over again, then he’d play another show after the show. One time, before the LoveSexy tour, I was up for three days.
“In my first five days of rehearsals with him, he was horrible to me, trying to find my breaking point.
“I’d go back to the hotel and cry.
“Bobby Z gave me a big hug and said, ‘Don’t worry. We all go through this’. “Obviously I made it through the test and from that point we were inseparable.”
LeRoy added about how he then became close to Prince due to their shared drive to wow audiences: “We were similar in the way we thought visually and wanted to push the boundaries of what a show was.
“When I started on the Dirty Mind tour, 100 people were turning up to 1,000-capacity theatres. Then Rolling Stone did an article on him and ignited a fire: thousands of people were trying to get in.
“It was chaos, but in an amazing way. On stage, he’d appear in silhouette and people would go crazy. Then he’d do the big reveal and people would go crazier.
“As he got bigger things got more extravagant. He’d have a fire pole or a bed on stage, which Madonna did after us. He worried about people stealing his ideas, or his crew. I was told I couldn’t tour with Queen. It got a little heavy, then he came into the management office, asked “What’s their song? Prince of the universe?!” and laughed in my face.
“He saw me as an extension of himself. I’d go over and cook for him, and he loved driving me round in his car when he wanted me to listen to a new song. “After he changed his name to the symbol, the first time I called him Prince he went, ‘Oh’ – but laughed when I said, ‘What else am I gonna call you?’
“I eventually quit, but I’m very grateful that when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame we had an hour and a half to sit down and talk about the things we did, and how we loved and missed each other.”
