Prince Bids Fans Goodbye: ’Purple Rain' Superstar Dies At Paisley Park

Prince Rogers Nelson, the genius behind the "Purple Rain" film and music and countless more work, is gone. Prince passed away at 57 years old at his Paisley Park home in Minnesota.

Fans and friends all over the world continue to grapple with the news that Prince has passed on. The Purple One showed no sign of serious illness save for a bout of flu, which Prince had been battling in the past weeks.

Still, Prince was able to rally enough strength to complete a show in Atlanta, Georgia a few days ago, although the "Little Red Corvette" singer had to cancel a performance earlier this April. BBC reports that Prince was rushed to a hospital in Illinois after The High Priest Of Pop's private plane had to make an emergency landing, but the music legend was cleared to continue home a mere hours later.

The Minnesota police received a call over a medical emergency in Paisley Park in the early part of Thursday. Hours later, a representative for Prince released the announcement confirming that the icon had, indeed, passed away. The cause of death is currently being investigated.

The Mirror reports that despite the hospital incident, Prince was up and about for a party he threw for fans a few days later. Prince teasingly told those in attendance to wait a few days before saying any prayer for him. Was this premonition? Prince had also been showing the crowd a new guitar that The Prince Of Funk had with him.

The loss of Prince is deeply felt not just by regular fans but, most of all, by musicians of all ranks who attribute profound musical influence and inspiration from the "Most Beautiful Girl In The World" artist. Justin Timberlake was among those who were quick to express their devastation over the death of Prince.

In a social media message, Justin Timberlake shared that Prince broke the mould in meeting one's idol. Unlike most other idols that let their fans down, Prince was down-to-earth and real.

"It would be silly to say that he has inspired our music," Justin Timberlake wrote. "It's beyond that. He's somewhere within every song I've ever written."

Prince rose from being an intensely private, self-conscious genius of a boy to an intensely private, self-conscious genius of a legend. He fought many battles during his lifetime, most of which had to do with protecting the integrity of his music and protecting his fans and his work from commercial exploitation. Within Paisley Park is a giant vault rumored to house thousands of unreleased songs by Prince.

The legend, who was once known by his protest name The Artist Formerly Known As Prince was not just a musician. Prince also went into several directing and acting projects. The most acclaimed of these projects is "Purple Rain."

Independent.ie reports that fans have begun to flood outside Paisley Park to mourn Prince and to pay their respects to the man and his music. In the aftermath of the sudden shock of Prince leaving, perhaps, too, fans wish to ask one thing: "Excuse me, is this really goodbye?"