Death of Prince, Day 2: 'No obvious signs of trauma,' suicide unlikely
Prince, a prodigy, a provocateur and a complete game-changer in popular music, died Thursday at his Paisley Park compound in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen. He was 57. Here is a real-time update of all Day 2 developments in his death.
4:23 p.m. ET: When asked about what Prince was wearing when he died, Olson could only say that he was "clothed."
4:18 p.m. ET: Olson said he has three or four agencies working on this investigation and a number of detectives working on it. "This is a high-profile case for us, but life in the county continues to go on, and there are other cases we have going on," he said.
4:14 p.m. ET: When asked about foul play being a factor in his death, Olson said those details are still pending.
4:13 p.m. ET: Olson said Prince was last time seen alive at 8 p.m. Wednesday night at Paisley Park.
4:06 p.m. ET: Olson said that friends and associates had been trying to reach Prince Thursday morning, and were unsuccessful. The unnamed people went to the residence and called authorities. Authorities found Prince unresponsive in an elevator and found no one else in the residence at the time. "This case is 29 hours old and it continues to evolve for us," Olson said.
4:05 p.m. ET: Olson said there were "no obvious signs of trauma" on Prince's body. "We have no reason to believe this was a suicide," he said.
4 p.m. ET: Sheriff Jim Olson from Carver County, Minnesota started the press conference noting, "This is a tragedy for all of us." He continued: "To you Prince Rogers Nelson was a celebrity, to us he was a community member ... In life, he was a private person, and we're going to continue to respect his privacy and dignity. We also respect the public's right to information."
2:50 p.m. ET: In an interview with the Associated Press Friday, Prince's former drummer and protégée Sheila E. says the singer was bothered by the same physical issues from which many musicians suffer. She says she knew Prince had issues with his hip and knee from years jumping off risers and speakers while wearing heels onstage. She says he kept doing it because he loved it. Still, she says Prince "really took care of himself," including eating well. She says she tried to copy what he did to stay fit.
2:34 p.m. ET: The Midwest Medical Examiner's Office has announced that it completed its autopsy on Prince at 2 p.m. ET and that results are pending. It is now prepared to release the singer's body to his family.
Don't expect to learn the cause of death when Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson holds a press conference at 4 p.m. ET. The medical examiner's office made it clear it will not release any information until all results have been obtained. "Gathering the results will take several days and the results of a full toxicology scan could take weeks," spokeswoman Martha Weaver noted in a statement.
1:31 p.m. ET: St. Louis concert promoter Steve Litman told the Associated Press Friday that he'd been collaborating with Prince's team on a pair of surprise shows scheduled for April 18 but learned on April 14 that the singer had to cancel due to illness. That was also the day he performed in Atlanta and it was on the way back from this show that his plane made an emergency medical landing in Illinois.
12:23 p.m. ET: In an exclusive column for USA TODAY, journalist Tavis Smiley recalls "The Prince I Knew." What Smiley assumed was a prank phone call from someone pretending to be the rock icon led to several groundbreaking interviews and a lasting friendship.
11:47 a.m. ET: Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. ET in Chaska, Minn., summarizing what is known so far about Prince's death. Although there will be a Q&A afterward, police do not expect to be able to answer many of the predictable inquiries because their investigation is still in the early phase.
11:30 a.m. ET: Dr. A. Quinn Strobl, the chief medical examiner for the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office, began conducting an autopsy on Prince's body Friday at 9 a.m. CT. "As part of a complete exam, relevant information regarding Mr. Nelson's medical and social history will be gathered," a statement advised.
In a 2009 interview with talk-show host and friend Tavis Smiley, Prince revealed he was born with epilepsy and suffered from seizures as a child. It remains unclear whether his seizures continued into adulthood or if the disease was a factor in his death.
9:23 a.m. ET: Fans with early bedtimes are catching up on the Prince tributes that came in overnight. First Avenue in Minneapolis, where much of the movie Purple Rain was filmed, marked the first of three nights of all-night dance parties. The hit musical Hamilton threw an onstage dance party in his honor. "Step away from your computer. Walk around, blast some Prince," creator Lin-Manuel Miranda suggested on Twitter Thursday. "It's the only thing that has saved my day, it may save yours."
Elsewhere on Broadway, Jennifer Hudson led the cast of The Color Purple in an emotional rendition of Purple Rain.
10 a.m. ET: Prince's music occupies 13 of the top 20 spots on the iTunes album chart. It's a similar story on Amazon's digital music store, where 19 of the top 20 albums belong to Prince. The best-selling songs so far: Purple Rain, When Doves Cry, Kiss, Little Red Corvette and Raspberry Beret.
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8:33 a.m. ET: Elton John pays tribute to Prince, calling him the "greatest performer I have ever seen."
8:00 a.m. ET: Chevrolet, whose iconic sports car will always be associated with Prince's Little Red Corvette, dedicates its back-page ad in Friday's USA TODAY to the artist. Here it is in tweet form:
The death of Prince: What we know now
Contributing: The Associated Press