I hear this statement over & over again. He knew that he was dying. Arguments include:

-The Aids diagnosis? Pure speculation, plus Aids in 2016 is no death sentence.

-The memoirs? Prince himself said the reason was that he received a lucrative offer from Spiegel & Grau.

-The the piano & microphone show? Even if Prince had never done anything like this before it would

not be any proof that he knew that he was dying. However it wasn't, solo segments and unplugged efforts have been a part of his career for many years.

-The reaching out & invitations to Morris Day & others? You may go to any era of Prince's career and see him reach out & reconcile to people he had not spoken to in a while. Also, if this was methodical, Sheila E would have been on that list. But the last time she spoke to him was 9 months back about her foundation which she contacted him about.

-His comments about releasing the Atlanta show? He has made numerous 'in the moment' statements like that over the years.

-The haircut as a sign of full circle? No comment.

I'm not saying that an early death was not a worry or a concern. I'm sure it was. But the 'HE KNEW'

just seems an assumption and a romantic notion.

In my opinion, more likely he did not know.

-Efforts were made to get him off percocet in the weeks & days before April 21st, through Kronfeld, Schulenberg (possibly) and others. Prince was willing for an unprecedented level of counselling and treatment to get off painkillers.

-Many that were close to Prince (Van Jones & others) testify that he was buzzed about various projects and generally happy. Hardly the picture of a man who was closing his life down.

-The lack of an easily locatable will. Would he want a vast % to be claimed in taxes, have his estate, legacy and recordings mired in potential wrangling for years?

-If indeed Prince knew he was going to die, he would have communicated in the fashion he is famous for: through his music. But HitnRun 1 & 2 offer no more arresting clues than any other album.

Most people that die of drug overdoses (and nothing has been confirmed) don't know that they are dying when they do. As far as they are concerned, they just dropped off or passed out. I don't think that's a horrible end. Prince died in his beloved Minneapolis, in Paisley Park, the amazing headquarters that he built and which testifies to his enduring legacy, rather than in some hospital bed or on the tarmac of some anonymous airport.

[Edited 5/12/16 4:55am]

[Edited 5/12/16 4:56am]

[Edited 5/12/16 4:57am]

You're right. Nothing is conclusive, and we'll only know for sure once the results of the investigation are known.

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Aids seems extremely unlikely. You don't just drop dead from that, or play concerts days before!!

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It doesn't stop people speculating though about lyrics, etc. Way Back Home and the reprise at the end of AOA for example. U Know "To find the answer to this cancer..."

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Might all just turn out to be coincidental!

Again we do not know, was it as simple as an overdose, possibly it was. Maybe he had a foreshadowing, maybe he felt it was around the corner because he had pain and it got worse and he knew that maybe that was his "sentence". We simply do not know, we for a fact do not know if he even HAD surgery, TMZ is talking about this for a fact, but when interviewing friends of his and band members NO one can confirm it, so how does TMZ know this and no one else around him a lot know that he had a major surgery.

I have heard many speculations even down to the fact that he had cancer of some sort, some are saying that seeing his last shows he may have been playing but he looked gaunt and very thin. I mean there are many ways to think on this.

I'd like to point out that he shopped his memoirs around in 1993. i dont think this publishing company came out of nowhere with an offer. I'm sure representives of Prince put out some feelers.........

I will say it again, he did not know a thing, he looked fine, and had many plans for the future. His freinds state he looked fine, the concert goers at his shows stated he looked fine. Whatever happened to him we will eventually find out, or, we just won't be told the truth for whatever reason, nothing we can do about any of it.

Prince was robbed from this world, he was robbed from us, and that makes me angry. But in no way whatsoever did he know any of this was coming. None of the evidence points to that. You can pick out a lyric here or there, or a photo with crappy lighting, or a picture of him wearing clothes way too big for him making him appear skinny, but it doesn't mean jack, it's just people trying to force reasons as to why this happened, or, to find things that will better help them accept what has happened. If thats what you need to do to get through this then by all means, that is what you need to do.

He wasn't a man on his way out, he was a man with plans, many plans, and just wanted to get back into the studio like he always has his entire career. He was probably recording music right up until that very night. He just bought a new guitar, his new bass was on the way where the fret board lights up different led colors where his fingers play it, he surely had another new image change in the works for after Piano & Microphone. The new music itself was still pouring out of him from accounts of people he hired to create orchestrations on his new music, ie. Pangea and others (the newreinvention of the minneapolis sound he said was trying to create in a recent article) He also JUST started writing his memoirs. I am sure I am missing something here.

None of these actions are from a dude that thinks he is about to check out.

Peace

donnyenglish said:

I am starting to come around to agreeing with some of your points. However, he has been singing about his deatb for years. I think songs like June and Way Back Home are evidence of that. I think his last avatar from twitter that was essentially a physically dead version of Prince also suggests that he knew. I dont think he knew when he was going to die but he may have subconsciously known that the end was near. Prince is different from the rest of us. His words, actions and music were spiritual and I dont think even he had control over that like the lucid dreams comment. I think he "knew" even if he didnt "know" if that makes sense. [Edited 5/12/16 4:48am]

True enough, he must have been very aware that he was in the dangerzone. On one level people have an inkling, and on another level they're forging ahead. Prince showed astonishing drive for a guy who's struggling, just staying true to his muse.

maybe the belief is part of the 'bargaining' stage of grief: "it's okay that prince died IF he knew it was going to happen (and had time to prepare, accept, find closure, and go out on his terms)." I don't see any evidence of it, but people are going to process this how they will.

leadline said:

I will say it again, he did not know a thing, he looked fine, and had many plans for the future. His freinds state he looked fine, the concert goers at his shows stated he looked fine. Whatever happened to him we will eventually find out, or, we just won't be told the truth for whatever reason, nothing we can do about any of it.

Prince was robbed from this world, he was robbed from us, and that makes me angry. But in no way whatsoever did he know any of this was coming. None of the evidence points to that. You can pick out a lyric here or there, or a photo with crappy lighting, or a picture of him wearing clothes way too big for him making him appear skinny, but it doesn't mean jack, it's just people trying to force reasons as to why this happened, or, to find things that will better help them accept what has happened. If thats what you need to do to get through this then by all means, that is what you need to do.

He wasn't a man on his way out, he was a man with plans, many plans, and just wanted to get back into the studio like he always has his entire career. He was probably recording music right up until that very night. He just bought a new guitar, his new bass was on the way where the fret board lights up different led colors where his fingers play it, he surely had another new image change in the works for after Piano & Microphone. The new music itself was still pouring out of him from accounts of people he hired to create orchestrations on his new music, ie. Pangea and others (the newreinvention of the minneapolis sound he said was trying to create in a recent article) He also JUST started writing his memoirs. I am sure I am missing something here.

None of these actions are from a dude that thinks he is about to check out.

Peace

This. All of THIS! On point. Endorsing now.

The thing is according to Doctors who have done autopsies etc...you know pretty quick, and the fact is if it was a heart attack, or something like that they would have known that day. Even if he did die from an overdose they know it already, because as a doctor described the lungs fill up with fluid etc..and all that is easily known from the autopsy. The toxicology is only for "what" was in his system but even that, should have been known already or is known but being kept hush hush. As in LIFE Prince wanted you to know what he wanted you to know and in death it will be the same.

leadline said:

Maybe he didn't know he was going to die but he was certainly acting melancholy and weird after the emergency landing. Probably because he knew more than we did and was battling something behind closed doors. He was always thin and in some shots if he's 'tired looking' it could just be lack of make-up or false eyelashes. Yes he had future plans, but maybe yes, as an earlier poster said, a foreshadow, or premotion was what he had, considering his life and work ethic, he knew he was not going to get old.

listening to this old interview, [somewhere around Parade album]... back than, friends were afraid 4 Prince - he's gonna die, because he worked too much... but he wasn't afraid.

around 2min: https://www.youtube.com/w...tKtWgXzMS8

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30 yrs later...the same thing, he worked hard, barely slept, ate a little...

He gave it all....he sacrificed all 4 art, his own life. He didn't knew he was dying, but death 4 him was something he wasn't afraid off... especially in later years. This will not make pain easier, but in some way Jesus was his mentor in last 15+ years:

'There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love.' [1 john, 4;18]

He transformed himself into perfect love. He gave it all. Fans feel that. He left traces 4 generations 2 come. He was a genius.

stpaisios said:

I do not think that Prince knew he was dying at all. What I do think is that he knew he had a dependency that he wanted to kick. If what was said is true about him doctoring for pain med withdrawal symptoms, I think that this dependency had been going on for a while and with this recent tour and events, I think he was trying to kick this. What I feel happened though is that he didn't plan on how bad he would feel trying to withdraw and perhaps he kept reverting back (? not quite sure) and maybe this is where the emergency plane landing came in because he accidentally overdosed. He needed more help with this whole withdrawal thing and really it appears he was trying to do it on his own at first. All around, I think he felt bad physically and started looking unwell because of all this. Plus, I don't think he ate, drank, or even slept as well as he should wearing him down further. These are just my thoughts and an opinion in no way is this implied to be fact. This man had plans and he was so excited about doing his piano and microphone tour. He made a comment in an interview a year ago or so ??? I'll have to search for the interview, but he made a comment about how he liked Adele (the singer) and how it was just her singing and the piano...no gimmicks. It seemed to me that is what inspired him to tour this way recently. No, he did not think he was going anywhere.

[Edited 5/13/16 0:50am]

Prince was a smart man, he may not have had a "crystal ball" and knew he was going to die if he took some more, but I don't think it was something that was not in his mind. I mean he is a grown man and he has seen and heard many that have died from "taking too much" and then almost OD'ing, and trying to keep that a secret tells me he might have been trying to get off these things but he also was a private person, never a scandal in his life, just think how the "tabloids" would run with it if they knew that day the plane landed early because he had overdosed, it would have been the next days headlines. Was it shame was it just outright addiction, I still feel Prince had "sense" but he was spiraling, and then still doing shows and flying around was not helping, but again, he is a grown man, and it's easy for us to say someone should have said "prince get help, or prince cancel this tour", easy for us to say but even if that was happening people are powerless in this situation, PAIN is a lot more serious than we all think, and presciptions being written out and given out like candy and made more powerful and addictive than heroin to me should have all of us question the use of any of these drugs for people.

That being said, however, there is a huge change in his look and its not the big clothes its in his face, and it looks much more narrow and drawn than ever, and it seems to be a huge change in say just a year or two. For someone that seemed to never age to all of a sudden look "his age" is a sign.

I think he knew. During the ast Atlanta show, during Sometimes it Snows in April he did the entire song with exception of this verse:

He used to say so strong unafraid to die
Unafraid of the death that left me hypnotized
No, staring at his picture I realized
No one could cry the way my Tracy cried

Thats pretty telling, given the circumstances. Damn. this still hurts.

alexzander said:

This from leadline:You can pick out a lyric here or there, or a photo with crappy lighting, or a picture of him wearing clothes way too big for him making him appear skinny, but it doesn't mean jack, it's just people trying to force reasons as to why this happened, or, to find things that will better help them accept what has happened. If thats what you need to do to get through this then by all means, that is what you need to do.

This makes sense. The most sense. Prince looked fantastic, he looked much better than any 57 year old i know. Remember, during the press confrence the sheriff said that he was the same age as Prince,and he looked much older than Prince. clearly Prince did not look ill. His pyhsical appearance was that of a man who looked after himself.

wayhome said:

There are ways of knowing that you are dieing or just slowly killing yourself. Did Prince have a medical issue other than the HIP (that surgery still is a mystery), probably not. But as I said he was smart and know his behavior can lead to that, almost OD'ing is telling even the most "oblivious" I am going to end up dead if I keep this up, you can't say that thought was not in the man's brain somewhere.

TopazGirl said:

I do not think that Prince knew he was dying at all. What I do think is that he knew he had a dependency that he wanted to kick. If what was said is true about him doctoring for pain med withdrawal symptoms, I think that this dependency had been going on for a while and with this recent tour and events, I think he was trying to kick this. What I feel happened though is that he didn't plan on how bad he would feel trying to withdraw and perhaps he kept reverting back (? not quite sure) and maybe this is where the emergency plane landing came in because he accidentally overdosed. He needed more help with this whole withdrawal thing and really it appears he was trying to do it on his own at first. All around, I think he felt bad physically and started looking unwell because of all this. Plus, I don't think he ate, drank, or even slept as well as he should wearing him down further. These are just my thoughts and an opinion in no way is this implied to be fact. This man had plans and he was so excited about doing his piano and microphone tour. He made a comment in an interview a year ago or so ??? I'll have to search for the interview, but he made a comment about how he liked Adele (the singer) and how it was just her singing and the piano...no gimmicks. It seemed to me that is what inspired him to tour this way recently. No, he did not think he was going anywhere.

[Edited 5/13/16 0:50am]

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I found the interview where he mentions Adele and I think this is where he got the idea to tour with just his piano. I also included another interview where he talks more about his reasons for touring this way.

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Interview from 2011 were he mentions Adele:

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Prince will happily talk about how much he adores Adele ("When she just comes on and sings with a piano player, no gimmicks, it's great") or Janelle Monáe, but he won't criticise other artists.

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http://www.theguardian.co...e-internet

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Also, he says this about his piano tour and tells why he's doing it. This interview from 2015 was before the dates of the tour were announced:

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The dates haven't actually been confirmed yet, but the concept has: he's going to perform solo, playing the piano, in a succession of theatres. "Well, I'm not one to get bad reviews," he deadpans.

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"So I'm doing it to challenge myself, like tying one hand behind my back, not relying on the craft that I've known for 30 years. I won't know what songs I'm going to do when I go on stage, I really won't. I won't have to, because I won't have a band. Tempo, keys, all those things can dictate what song I'm going to play next, you know, as opposed to, 'Oh, I've got to do my hit single now, I've got to play this album all the way through,' or whatever. There's so much material, it's hard to choose. It's hard. So that's what I'd like to do."

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http://www.theguardian.co...inneapolis

TopazGirl said:

avajane said:

But he always had an acoustic part in his shows, be it with the guitar like in the Musicology tour or just with the piano. I felt in this tour he wanted to tell his story through his songs like how he did in the Paisley shows on Jan. 21. Perhaps he saw some of the musical documentaries that came out last year like the Nina Simone one and was inspired to tell his story through his music. I don't know that's just my reasoning behind this tour, other than the usual "he knew he was dying." [Edited 5/14/16 17:54pm]

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This is a good observation too. I had not heard of the Nina Simone musical documentary, but it sounds plausible that he could have drawn inspiration from this. And yes, I think he had creative motivation for this tour and it didn't have anything to do with him thinking he was checking out. Thank you for your thoughts.

TopazGirl said:

You don't need to know you're dying this year to know that you're getting older and time is getting shorter. I think the reflective tone on 'Way Back Home' and on the Piano & Microphone tour, the intention to write some memoirs, were reflective of this 'I'm gettting older' mood.

Ps: 'we're all gonna die'.

vladimir said: