Welcome to the org , peace be with you thanks for sharing that.

Guitarhero said:

rogifan said:

Yet now we're supposed to believe he had some years/decades long addicition to very dangerous pain killers? An addiction he was able to hide from so many people who knew and worked with him? I've watched countless YouTube videos of concert performances and interviews and you won't find one where the guy looks or sounds like he's intoxicated in any way. It's just very sad to me that people can so easily believe anything that gets printed in a newspaper or tabloid publication.

Who said it was decades long? That would be at least 20 years, which dates to 1996. That's hyperbole.

But let's deal in reality here. I'm gonna need you to remove your purple-tinted glasses. I'm as big of a Prince fan as any other long timer here, but I'm realistic. I think people hear the words 'addict' or 'addiction' and they stereotypical white trash trailer park meth head comes to mind. It's simply not the case.

Pain killers do one thing: they kill the pain. A person on here, who had back or neck surgery, raved (cautiously) about Percocet, and how it helped them function until they were better. They felt "normal" (as normal as they could), and Percocet definitely kept them upright and functioning. The same happened for Prince obviously, and allowed him to work when he had gigs or functions to be attend.

Being addicted to pain killers doesn't mean he's "intoxicated"; not in the sense you're thinking of, at all. You might want to read up on painkillers, and how they work. People hear the term "50x stronger than pure heroin" and have visions of Pulp Fiction in their head. It's simply not the case. There are all sorts of folks around you who might have had a pain killer addiction, and you have no idea.

Anyone can get addicted to things like Oxycontin, Percocet, or Fentanyl. Why? Because they're addictive by nature. It's chemistry. It's physiology. It just happens, and it can happen to anyone, including Prince Roger Nelson. Even if the person takes the exact dosage in the exact manner their doctor tells them to, they stand a great chance of becoming addicted. While there are norms and guidelines for dosages, every single person on earth is different than the next, which lends to an indescribable field of variables.

Your friend can swear on anything, but with all due respect - they met Prince once, and certainly had no real intimate nature of Prince's doings and goings on in his apartment, or otherwise. I'm with you - ignore the papers. But read the truth of the toxicology report. Read the autopsy when it comes out in full. That pimp cane was no longer a prop. Him wearing flip flops (as far back as 2009 on Leno, where he truly looked like he was zoning out), and tennis shoes was no sudden change in wardrobe. It was survival. Even the biggest stars have a side we don't want to know about - and in this case, Prince had become dependent on Fentanyl. He accidentally overdosed, and he died. It's horrible and tragic and any other adjective you can think of, but it's the truth. It breaks my heart to even think that about the greatest musician that ever lived. But I have to deal in the truth.

But on the tail of that - let's stop memorializing his death. Let's celebrate his life. Because wherever he is right now, he's doing quite alright. We should do the same to honor him.

TrivialPursuit said:

rogifan said:

Yet now we're supposed to believe he had some years/decades long addicition to very dangerous pain killers? An addiction he was able to hide from so many people who knew and worked with him? I've watched countless YouTube videos of concert performances and interviews and you won't find one where the guy looks or sounds like he's intoxicated in any way. It's just very sad to me that people can so easily believe anything that gets printed in a newspaper or tabloid publication.

Who said it was decades long? That would be at least 20 years, which dates to 1996. That's hyperbole.

But let's deal in reality here. I'm gonna need you to remove your purple-tinted glasses. I'm as big of a Prince fan as any other long timer here, but I'm realistic. I think people hear the words 'addict' or 'addiction' and they stereotypical white trash trailer park meth head comes to mind. It's simply not the case.

Pain killers do one thing: they kill the pain. A person on here, who had back or neck surgery, raved (cautiously) about Percocet, and how it helped them function until they were better. They felt "normal" (as normal as they could), and Percocet definitely kept them upright and functioning. The same happened for Prince obviously, and allowed him to work when he had gigs or functions to be attend.

Being addicted to pain killers doesn't mean he's "intoxicated"; not in the sense you're thinking of, at all. You might want to read up on painkillers, and how they work. People hear the term "50x stronger than pure heroin" and have visions of Pulp Fiction in their head. It's simply not the case. There are all sorts of folks around you who might have had a pain killer addiction, and you have no idea.

Anyone can get addicted to things like Oxycontin, Percocet, or Fentanyl. Why? Because they're addictive by nature. It's chemistry. It's physiology. It just happens, and it can happen to anyone, including Prince Roger Nelson. Even if the person takes the exact dosage in the exact manner their doctor tells them to, they stand a great chance of becoming addicted. While there are norms and guidelines for dosages, every single person on earth is different than the next, which lends to an indescribable field of variables.

Your friend can swear on anything, but with all due respect - they met Prince once, and certainly had no real intimate nature of Prince's doings and goings on in his apartment, or otherwise. I'm with you - ignore the papers. But read the truth of the toxicology report. Read the autopsy when it comes out in full. That pimp cane was no longer a prop. Him wearing flip flops (as far back as 2009 on Leno, where he truly looked like he was zoning out), and tennis shoes was no sudden change in wardrobe. It was survival. Even the biggest stars have a side we don't want to know about - and in this case, Prince had become dependent on Fentanyl. He accidentally overdosed, and he died. It's horrible and tragic and any other adjective you can think of, but it's the truth. It breaks my heart to even think that about the greatest musician that ever lived. But I have to deal in the truth.

But on the tail of that - let's stop memorializing his death. Let's celebrate his life. Because wherever he is right now, he's doing quite alright. We should do the same to honor him.

Well said and agree. It's unfortunate that for many people, regardless of their status, that all we can do them is pain mitigation through highly addictive substances. Perhaps this will not be the case in the future. With P's death comes a warning to all of us. If it can happen to him it can happen to any of us, our friends and loved ones. We need to be viligant to the best of our abliities and watch out for one another. If this would have (or could have-he may not have allowed) happend with P perhaps we would not be discussing this topic but instead be arguing about where he was going to tour next!

rogifan said:

I agree with this. Addiction is a physiological issue; it's not a moral one. Saying someone is addicted is not a slap against their character. And there are absolutely people who are addicated to any number of substances and who pass through their lives looking "normal" to acquaintances. But to maintain that "normal" equilibrium, they need the substance. They can't stop without going into excrutiating or even dangerous withdrawal.

What we know so far -- especially the fact that he died of an OD -- indicate to me that Prince was likely addicated. But again, to me, that doesn't make him a lesser person in any way.

TrivialPursuit said:

Being addicted to pain killers doesn't mean he's "intoxicated";

rogifan said:

Sorry I don't have rose tinted glasses. I just choose not to engage in theories based on rumors or guesses. And I trust people who knew Prince personally and worked with him over random people on a website just making guesses in an attempt to appear "realistic".

Purple, not rose.

And a lot of people said they never saw him take a pain killer. If anything, Prince kept his image intact 24/7. What he did in that apartment, while alone, or what he had hidden is something we may never know in full. However, the truth is that the drug was found on his person in the elevator, and in his apartment at Paisley Park. And the toxicology said he died from Fentanyl toxicity. So - who cares what those around him siad. Prince obviously had something hidden from people.

There's a great posted on here, by Maureen Herman. She worked on Graffiti Bridge as a production secretary, and is/was in the band Babes In Toyland. Her article wasn't about thinking Prince was perfect or anything. It was about her own chronic pain issues (4 car wrecks?!), and how she saw society as always shaming addiction, or even those in pain to just get over it. I think Prince hid his prescription, and eventual dependency, from the public for not only his public image, but the public shaming that comes with addiction. No one ever blames big pharma for it, it's always the person.

Her article is linked in this thread. (Scroll down for the correct link. The link by the o.p. is a picture. It's fixed further down.) It's a good read, and gives great empathy for those who have chronic pain. She pulls Prince into a warmer, realistic, and fair light when it comes to pain suffering, and management.

4 car wrecks...was Stevie Wonder her chauffeur or something?

Hi. Yes people who I have met who met him have said he is was very straight laced about clean living too. I was flabergasted to learn he was on opioids. I hate how people assume, rock star=recreational drug user. They just didn't know Prince. I am convinced he was in some extreme physical pain to compromise his lifestyle philosophies. I do kind of hope any medical condidtion he has does come out in the press so people can get a clearer picture of what he was going through. I really hate to see his reputation get tainted like this. Both Jamie Lee Curtis' and Gene Simmons comments angered me because it was very presumptious and narssisstic of them to speak on something they didn't know the whole story on.

Pain pill addiction is such a complicated issue. I hope that if any thing positive can come out of this tragedy, it will be a re examining of how chronic pain is treated. Like others have said on this site, it becomes a physiological addiction. A person may not start out abusing pain pills, but over time, the body becomes dependent. When I had surgery last year and my doctor prescribed vicodin, I was very careful not to continue taking it after it was needed. But what I found interesting is that my doctor told me that I had to take the meds BEFORE I had pain. He said not to wait unitl I was in pain, because they wouldn't be as effective. Luckily, I only needed the meds a couple days after coming home. But I am sure for people in chronic pain, it must be a very difficult thing to deal with and the quality of life must be greatly diminished. Hopefuly the medical industry will find a more effective, less destructive way to treat pain.

Krystalkisses said:

Hi. Yes people who I have met who met him have said he is was very straight laced about clean living too. I was flabergasted to learn he was on opioids. I hate how people assume, rock star=recreational drug user. They just didn't know Prince. I am convinced he was in some extreme physical pain to compromise his lifestyle philosophies. I do kind of hope any medical condidtion he has does come out in the press so people can get a clearer picture of what he was going through. I really hate to see his reputation get tainted like this. Both Jamie Lee Curtis' and Gene Simmons comments angered me because it was very presumptious and narssisstic of them to speak on something they didn't know the whole story on.

Uh, what did Jamie Lee Curtis have to say?

morningsong said:

Krystalkisses said:

Hi. Yes people who I have met who met him have said he is was very straight laced about clean living too. I was flabergasted to learn he was on opioids. I hate how people assume, rock star=recreational drug user. They just didn't know Prince. I am convinced he was in some extreme physical pain to compromise his lifestyle philosophies. I do kind of hope any medical condidtion he has does come out in the press so people can get a clearer picture of what he was going through. I really hate to see his reputation get tainted like this. Both Jamie Lee Curtis' and Gene Simmons comments angered me because it was very presumptious and narssisstic of them to speak on something they didn't know the whole story on.

Uh, what did Jamie Lee Curtis have to say?

http://www.today.com/health/prince-s-death-prompts-jamie-lee-curtis-open-addiction-i-t91231

"I am one of the lucky ones as I have been in recovery from opiate addiction for over 17 years. … Most people who become addicted, like me, do so after a prescription for a painkiller following a medical procedure," she wrote. "Once the phenomenon of craving sets in, it is often too late... Let's work harder, look closer and do everything we can not to enable and in doing so, disable, our loved ones who are ill," she wrote. "This is what it sounds like when we all cry."

Seems okay to me?

morningsong said:

Uh, what did Jamie Lee Curtis have to say?

Something to the effect that she was "toxic" too, and that she could relate to Prince with his opioid addiction cuz she was once there using it to kill "emotional" pain in addition to physical pain. It just was an annoying assumption.

Assuming, Prince had an addiction than only his closest associates knew about... so what? Since when was clean living so damn important to being a Prince fan? There is nothing squeaky clean about rock and roll. Prince drank, but he wouldn't pay for booze for others. I think a lot of his clean living image, was a facade, but at he same time his heart was in the right place. He did his dirt but that wasn't to say he was proud of it. He tried to set a better example for others. Prince's daddy was wild as hell, and his mom was more conservative. He was a mix of the two, and on seemingly every subject he was both of them at the same time: Gemini.

funksterr said:

Krystalkisses said:

rogifan said:

Long time lurker, first time poster. I live in Minnesota about a mile or so from Paisley Park. My sister and her husband recently sold their house. They had a party over the weekend, one last time everyone would get together at their house. One guest at the party was my brother-in-laws aunt. She actually worked for Prince for a period of time 10 or so years ago (she worked at the Arboretum in Chanhassen for many years). I don't know exactly what work she did though I think it was overseeing gardens he had on various properties in the area. She's been inside Paisley Park many times and she did actually get to meet Prince once. She said he was a sweet, quiet man but when he said something you listened because it was something worth listening to. She is, of course, very sad about his passing and the cause of death. She did corroborate what some others have said though: there was no smoking, alcohol or drugs allowed at Paisely Park. And she was adamant that Prince would not have been taking painkillers for anything other than chronic pain or some other illness. I understand she was not someone close to Prince and didn't recently work for him but there was zero hesitation in her words. As a life long fan I too am sad about Prince's passing but I'm almost even more sad about all the speculation around it, most of it based on rumors and gossip, not fact. From everything we know about the man and people that knew him personally he was someone who lived a clean lifestyle and advocated it in his music. We know he didn't smoke and supposedly rarely drank. I've read stories from people who partied with him who said he would pick up the tab except he wouldn't pay for any booze. Yet now we're supposed to believe he had some years/decades long addicition to very dangerous pain killers? An addiction he was able to hide from so many people who knew and worked with him? I've watched countless YouTube videos of concert performances and interviews and you won't find one where the guy looks or sounds like he's intoxicated in any way. It's just very sad to me that people can so easily believe anything that gets printed in a newspaper or tabloid publication. Today I choose to celebrate the incredible life Prince had and the years of joy he brought me and so many others. Blast your Prince music loud today! Peace and love everyone.💜

welcome to the org! and i'm glad to see your also an Adam Ant fan!