but hes wearing THAT shirt.....

justtracy said:

Don't know if anyone has ever noticed or mentioned his hands. His hands are arthritic. I have Rheumatoid arthritis (the kind that disfigures) and his poor hands look like mine.Especially his left hand, pointer finger that I can see. Would explain a lot of his pain issues...

I saw that the minute I looked at it...I have some issues with arthritis in the fingers right now too...and am his exact age...and that pointer finger is arthritic..

cindyt said:

justtracy said:

suomynona said:

justtracy said:

justtracy said:

rogifan said:

justtracy said:

I started checking other photos and his hands progressivly get worse. Maybe that explains the gloves? God bless him.. Can you imagine the pain of playing piano/guitar virtually everyday with arthritic hands?

Didn't he tell Jon Bream that he couldn't play guitar anymore? I think this was at one of the PP P&M shows? I didn't think anything of it at the time, just assumed he was in piano mode and maybe that's why he put the guitar down. Though if he had arthritis bad how was he able to play the piano?

No.

motherfunka said:

PurpleDiamonds1 said:

Do u think that was his real hair or a wig??

luvsexy4all said:

PurpleDiamonds1 said:

You can see the classic deformation in his right index finger. The right curve. Not sure what classic deformation you mean? Guitar players hands? My right index finger has the same curve. I do not play any instruments and am in no pain... It has been that shape for as long as I can remember and I am 48

Reply:

I have had RA since age 4. Whether he was diagnosed or not, he has classic signs of joint inflammation and deformation. Textbook. I should know.

Piano would be easier to play because it is less finite. Why the disbelief? It's not like I said he was a lepar.

Get a grip people.

[Edited 7/8/16 7:26am]

[Edited 7/8/16 7:27am]

it is a sad picture BUT was it just the pose he chose..intended to look like it was perhaps?

Tresha68 said:

I see the curve but that wasn't what I was looking at.

RA or even severely inflammed joints look like balls under the skin, where the joints are.

The photo that it's really pronounced in, is the other pic at the piano. Just an observation that's all.

A lot of older folks get arthritis. I just noticed his joints in his fingers and started looking back because he had always had such nice hands.

RJOrion said:

doesnt look old...or necessarily sick... but he does look like he's about to cry...or like he's about to deliver some bad news to a family member or friend

Agree. Just makes you wanna grab him & hug him

[Edited 7/8/16 11:31am]

suomynona said:

donnyenglish said:

Sadly, he doesn't look well in the photo, which is to be expected given that he was a sick man.

He was 57 years old.

Google "57 year old man" and go look at images.

When Prince wasn't covered in make-up, he looked his age -- especially close-up. And with bright lights.

Now... imagine this 57-year-old man working the entire night before.

Forget for a moment that it was Prince -- much less that he had aged MORE than TWICE the age he was when Purple Rain the movie came out.

Make a note today. When you're 57-years-old, go on stage where the lights are blinding with hardly any make-up at all. Stay up the entire night before.

Then pull up a photo of when you were 26-28 years old -- in the prime of your life. And then look in the mirror and remember the words you posted here today. Think about what others see when you leave your home that day. Do they see the person you feel you are still? Or do they see a 57-year-old -- or someone they assume is older. It sucks. But it's just how it is.

Prince was 8 years from becoming a senior citizen. You saw that when you were front and center at his shows in 2013. He had aged, regardless of what anyone thinks.

Getting older should be a great thing for everyone, but all you see is ageism commercials on television. You see women (and men too) in their 30s getting botox and plastic surgery and they don't even have their first wrinkle.

Not an attack on anyone -- but folks should think about this when they see photos of him and wonder if the way he looked as a 50-something-year-old man looked the way he did was due to drugs, or lack of nutrition. It was a lack of make-up combined with a lack of sleep. Period. Prince worked himself to death. And his body couldn't keep up with him. It is as simple as that.

We should be thrilled that he was with us as long as he was. He released more records than most artists do in 4 lifetimes. Toured more than most artists too. Let's leave it at that, rather than trying to make sense of something that NO ONE knows the answer to.

Thank you Thank you. Thank you. Photoshop plays a huge part in the way Prince looked in photos at 57 years old, let alone the heavy make up etc. If you watch the end of the Judith Hill documentary on Youtube where he's locked outside you'll see how much he has aged. People are in denial if they think that a "photo" shows how much the man satyed youthful. Thank you thank you thank you.

StereoSushi said:

LBrent said:

justtracy said:

I see the curve but that wasn't what I was looking at.

RA or even severely inflammed joints look like balls under the skin, where the joints are.

The photo that it's really pronounced in, is the other pic at the piano. Just an observation that's all.

A lot of older folks get arthritis. I just noticed his joints in his fingers and started looking back because he had always had such nice hands.

Prince's hands always looked like that. The difference here is 57 years old and tons of playing.

RJOrion said:

his facial expression almost looks like his spirit has left his body, his eyes look zombified...like a wax museum figure...or a bobblehead doll...the eyes in the pictures behind him, seem to have more life than his own eyes...smh...the more i see this photo, the sadder i/it get(s) [Edited 7/9/16 4:59am]

At the show at the fox, there was this look that you write of here. I am glad you wrote this. I saw this too.... One could easily mistake it for the look of a jet lagged person or one who is exhausted. There was something different if you got close up. For the sake of emphasis, you would have to see it up close and if you're lucky, in person.

There was no life when he spoke.Sometimes he stared off pass whom he spoke to. The eyes were set back and the face was gaunt. You could see the foundation but it looked like it was masking a change in color.

I know this is contorversial but when I add it all up,... loss of appetite /sore throat that his chef spoke about, "flu" like symptoms... His team stated he was suffering from the "flu "after the emergency landing ( this was a lie), the insomnia( which shouldn't be mistaken for working in the wee hours of the morning), numerous pharmacy visits reported in a span of a few days, his watery eyes that night at the fox ( looks familiar in that pic?) Lots of pain in the joints, and dare I say, thoughts of suicide/death that he often spoke of? We can make excuses for each of these but the it won't add up in the end.

These are the classic signs and symtpoms of opiate addiction/withdrawal. You have to speak to former/present users to recognize what is being presented. Now whether he was masking something else is up for debate , but I will say it again, most of us saw the deterioation .Regardless of the cause, little by little, he was wasting away. This is the look that you see. This is the battle for those who are dopesick and trying very hard to kick the habit. He almost made the turn. Just tragic.

donnyenglish said:

he was still absolutely gorgeous sick or not...man what a loss.

1986 - same fingers - would arthritis not have come out in the autopsy anyway? (I dunno, maybe not)