Superstar Prince Is Dead, Publicist Confirms

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) TMZ broke the shocking news and later his publicist confirmed it: Superstar rock star Prince is dead.

Prince played a pop-up show in Detroit exactly a year ago, and it was considered by many to be the show of the year.

At his final Detroit show he came back for several encores, not leaving the stage until after midnight. The singer ran through just about every hit in his 30-plus year career, plus covers from other stars including Michael Jackson.

He told the audience to "keep Detroit beautiful."

TMZ is exclusively reporting that his body was found "at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota early Thursday morning."

The singer had a medical emergency on April 15th that forced his private jet to make an emergency landing in Illinois, TMZ reports, adding, "But he appeared at a concert the next day to assure his fans he was okay. His people told TMZ he was battling the flu."

Always slight, Prince showed up at the 2013 Grammys on a cane. Several media outlets reported at the time he was suffering from poor health and required a double hip replacement.

But that was nowhere to be seen in his Detroit show, where he strutted on stage for hours.

The Midwest native with eccentric habits, serious guitar prowess, and larger-than-life persona set the pop culture tone in the 1980s and 1990s.