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Musician Prince Dies at Age 57. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired April 21, 2016 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:00:00]

(MUSIC)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Heart broken. So many of us are heartbroken, in disbelief on this Thursday.

I can't believe I'm sitting here telling you, special breaking news coverage, that massive loss in the world of music and pop culture and art. Superstar, music legend, pioneer Prince has died at the age of 57. He is an artist who transcended genres and generations and eras.

And up until last week, this is a man who was performing for an hour- and-a-half, strong on stage, solo concerts, all across America. We don't know a lot. Let's just be entirely transparent with you, but what we do know is that police responded to a medical call at his home in Minnesota this morning, and then a death investigation began at his estate.

We know he was hospitalized last week for the flu. That's really all we know at this point, but when you think about his body of work -- I was just talking to somebody who signed him for his very first album in 19 -- I believe it was '79 -- and said, we don't even fully know what his entire catalog is.

When you think of the hits, of course, you know "Purple Rain" and "Let's Go Crazy" and "Little Red Corvette," "When Doves Cry." The list is endless. And he's so extraordinary for blending his style of his electricity, soaring guitars, the funk, the bluesiness, the rock 'n' roll, the flamboyant -- and the dance moves.

He wrote the music from a very early age, and even just about a year ago he was in Baltimore and he wanted to perform. He performed at Rally for Peace, Baltimore show, to rave reviews. And it was at that show that he unveiled a new song called "Baltimore." It was a protest song he wrote in the wake of unrest after the death of Freddie Gray, a young African-American man who was shot and killed by police there.

We have a lot to walk through this next hour. But let's begin with what we know as far as the investigation goes.

Miguel Marquez is working that angle for us today.

Miguel, what do you know?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that there was a medical emergency there, but it does sound, given what the Carver County Sheriff's Office is now saying, that Prince Rogers Nelson, 57, found dead at Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

We are investigating the circumstances of his death. So, by the time emergency personnel were there on the scene, he was already dead. We know that they went there this morning. Beyond that, it is murky. Last Thursday, the 14, he had a concert in Atlanta. That concert had been put off for a week because of the flu, said his publicist.

[15:05:05]

On his way back to Minnesota, his plane, private plane, had to land in Moline, Illinois, for an emergency medical emergency. He was taken to the hospital there. He was released some hours later. He was able to attend an event the following day, the 16th.

Saturday the 16th, he was at his Paisley Park After Dark event. This is something he holds almost every year. He's performed some years. He didn't perform this year, but he did make an appearance there, at one point, even telling people who had gathered there, you know, don't -- save the prayers. Don't pray for me quite yet, assuring people that he was -- that he was OK.

The news of his death hitting his fans. I mean, to watch the Internet respond to this, I mean, we all sort of sense it, but...

BALDWIN: People wanted to think it was a hoax.

MARQUEZ: To watch the Internet respond to this is just unbelievable. His own -- his big fan Web site, Prince.org, they can't even handle the traffic. It's been shut down at this point because so many fans are trying to get on to pay their respects to this incredible artist.

You were talking about the set that he played in Atlanta, 25 songs on the set list that he did there. This is not a guy who clearly seemed to be having any problems. His publicist said he had been suffering from the flu. They told other media outlets that he was dehydrated. But nothing, nothing indicated that it might end like this, a guy whose career just -- you know, it's just touched all of our lives in so many ways. It's a really hard thing to report, Brooke.

BALDWIN: It has. I'm a fan sitting here listening to all the music, singing along, singing along with Lisa France.

Let me bring in my next guest, a friend. She writes for us, CNN.com, incredible writer, but also one of the biggest Prince fans I have probably met.

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, SENIOR PRODUCER, CNN DIGITAL: Huge, massive fan.

BALDWIN: As we have been talking to the LaToya Jackson, who told me last hour that she -- that all of this washed over her as though her brother had just passed away it and brought it all out.

Also to the fans -- you were at his show.

FRANCE: I was. I was at the 7:00 show.

BALDWIN: A week ago...

FRANCE: A week ago.

BALDWIN: ... today in Atlanta, here in Atlanta.

FRANCE: Yes.

I felt blessed. Prince, he was such -- he mixed the profane with the profound. And he was so cool. From the moment that man walked out on the stage...

BALDWIN: You felt it.

FRANCE: You felt it.

And I remember talking to some friends before the show. We were like, how's he going to do this, how's he going to do it with just a piano and a microphone? He was amazing. It was absolutely the best concert. You know. We have partied together. I go to concerts all the time. It was the best concert I have ever been to in my life.

BALDWIN: Whoa, whoa, whoa.

FRANCE: Ever.

BALDWIN: Truly?

FRANCE: Truly. Truly.

BALDWIN: And this is just Prince on a stage with a piano.

FRANCE: This is just Prince on a stage with a piano and a microphone. He was funny.

BALDWIN: These are your pictures?

FRANCE: They are not my pictures.

BALDWIN: No, those are Lisa Cox's. Lisa is another producer at CNN. She was there as well.

(CROSSTALK)

FRANCE: He was funny. He was endearing. He apologized for having to reschedule. He said he was a bit under the weather.

BALDWIN: He did? He did mention that?

FRANCE: Yes. He was so cool.

You just felt like there's never -- I will say this personally, and I said to friends. I would not listen to music. After I left that concert, I had my radio turned off because I felt like...

BALDWIN: I know exactly what you're talking about.

FRANCE: Yes. I felt like I just had had such an experience.

BALDWIN: You can't hear anything else.

FRANCE: Can't hear anything else.

And it just made me realize that there's no other Prince. There will never been another Prince. He launched into -- "Little Red Corvette" was the first song, and at one point he was playing with one hand. But I felt like he knew, you know? People always say that he didn't have long to be with us.

A few times, he left the stage. One time, he came back and he said, I forgot how emotional this music makes me and how it fills me. And I'm there with my best friend, Audrey (ph). We're crying when he sings "Nothing Compares to You."

It really -- and I'm not just saying this because he's now passed. I'm saying that it felt like such an experience to be in a room and to be listening to Prince. And we weren't allowed to take pictures. And, you know, no one cared. Like, ordinarily, you see people like wanting to be on their phones and wanting to Facebook about the experience.

BALDWIN: You were present.

FRANCE: I was present. You had to be present because it was Prince. Prince was in front of you on a piano with a microphone and he was giving us everything. And he sounded perfect.

I mean, his voice held up. I have gone to some concerts that I know you have for some rockers who have been around, you know, some artists who have been around for a minute. You're like, uh, maybe I will go listen them on Spotify after this.

Prince sounded perfect. He was hitting those falsetto notes like you could not believe. And I thought every artist out today needs to take him as a master class. Just watch how he just came, and it just felt like he was lovingly embracing all of us at that concert. I just can't speak enough about how just great it was.

BALDWIN: Stay with me.

FRANCE: I will.

BALDWIN: Let's bring in Don Lemon. Don Lemon is with us, CNN anchor.

Don, the only Prince show I went to was actually -- it was the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I'm a huge fan of the Rock Hall. He opened the whole thing. He was inducted by OutKast and Alicia Keys.

And when I tell you everyone was on their feet for the man...

[15:10:02] DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Of course.

Brought the house down. He had his heels on and his boots and his colorful, flamboyant way and he rocked. He rocked.

LEMON: No one could -- I mean, he would even compete with supermodels with walking in heels. The man was -- seriously. I'm being honest. He was an fashion icon.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: True.

LEMON: He wasn't huge in stature, but because of who he was he appeared to be much bigger in life. Larger than life, as a matter of fact. You know, sitting there listening to Lisa -- and Lisa and I are friends and so is her friend, Audrey Irvine (ph).

Audrey and I are really good friends and Audrey and I have been texting and talking all day about that last concert and the shared experience that she and Lisa had. And it was interesting because as an artist I think people do -- let's just be honest. I think many people do know when the time is nigh, when it's coming. Right?

And if you listen to, you know, I think you spoke to his first manager, who said I could see something in Prince's eyes. I don't want to sit here and say that, you know, for sure that he knew, but I would venture a guess that Prince knew something was off or that he was feeling some sort of euphoria in the latter days of life and maybe he didn't know it was the latter days, but he felt some sort of euphoria and some sort of freedom, some sort of freedom to be open and to be more of who he was.

And so, with that, Audrey said to me that he quoted the lord's prayer after I think singing "Controversy" and that -- was very interesting. Usually Prince will do, you know, a lot of his new music. I have gone to a number of concerts, but mostly -- I'm an old school fan from 1978, "For You," and then Prince and songs you can't even say -- you can't even put the lyrics on television.

I'm an old school fan. I went to those concerts. And Prince during these, you know, latter days did not do a lot of his old music. And for a fan like me, I want to hear "Controversy" and I want to hear "Soft and Wet" and I want to hear "Raspberry Beret." I want to hear "Little Red Corvette," and all that.

He went through almost his entire song book singing his Old songs, according to Audrey and I'm sure Lisa if she's still there. And it was just him and a piano, economy was very interesting.

But I have to give Prince credit for giving people the power to be individual, an individual and for giving people like Little Richard a voice, who didn't have as big of a voice as Prince had, and even James Brown a voice, and even Jimi Hendrix and bringing them into the '70s, late '70s and '80s and '90s and then the 2000s, because this all came there. If look at Little Richard and a picture of Prince you will go, wow, they're very similar. If you look at some of James Brown's old photographs and you look at Prince and you look at the hair and some of the things, they're very similar.

BALDWIN: Sure.

LEMON: Prince sort of brought that into now. And he allowed people to be individuals, because he had the big afro and he had singing falsetto and in "Controversy," he was saying, am I black or white? Am I straight or gay?

Because he knew people were hating on him even back then, the hatorade, in trying to figure out who he was. And he said, you know what? I don't have to be anybody for anybody. I just have to be me for me and all you have to do is be you for you. That's what I loved about Prince besides the genius of his music and besides his beauty and his hair and his fashion and the beautiful women he had around him.

BALDWIN: And his heels.

LEMON: Yes.

BALDWIN: I love how Michaela Angela Davis a second ago, when we were talking, said he knew how to negotiate God and sex, which I think is the best line, the best line I have heard. I just love when you talk to rockers, any sort of music genre, they're all, everyone is touched by this man.

And what is amazing of just we have such this incredible music catalog.

Let me just play a little more from when he sat down with Larry King talking about, of course, "Purple Rain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE, MUSICIAN: My love of rock music and living in Minneapolis, I am always going to have my guitar in the mix somewhere. And my -- the chance that I got to work with Gwen Stefani, I wanted something that she sounded really cool on so I put that on there.

LARRY KING, CNN: Has a lot of music affected you, like do you like jazz music?

PRINCE: Oh, yes, sir, Miles Davis I learned a lot from. I learned a lot about space from Miles. Space is a sound too, and it can be used very inventively if...

KING: He was also technically a great player, was he not?

PRINCE: So they say, yes.

KING: The "Purple Rain" concept, autobiographical? PRINCE: Semi, yes. Albert Magnoli wrote that, the script for that.

My whole thing was to -- I really wanted to chronicle the life I was living at the time, which was in a area that had a lot of great talent and a lot of rivalries. The time -- and I forgot to mention, they will be on the pay-per-view special. You have got to see them now, they're crazy. So I wanted to chronicle that vibe of my life.

[15:15:08]

KING: Were you surprised at its success?

(CROSSTALK)

KING: Maybe you weren't. Maybe you knew you had something.

PRINCE: Well, you know, you can kind of get a feel. There was no movie out like that at the time. That's what I tend to do in all the things that I do is, you know, the idea with art and inspiration is to try to let it grow and move forward. If there's stagnation, you can always come with something and cut through the maze.

KING: So do you sense that you're different in that regard? Certainly, you are unique.

PRINCE: Yes, my music, I think, is different, yes.

KING: So on the "Purple Rain" thing, you could say you expected it? Not surprised that it went as well as it did?

PRINCE: I expected it because, I think, because there was, like I said, there was nothing out like it at the time -- and if only for Morris Day's performance.

I thought he was incredible in it. And the music -- we were at a very good place musically. Right today I feel like I could put together something equally as interesting, and it would be as successful if the right people are getting paid. You know, that may sound strange, but this is a business, and when people are involved in it, you have successes, you know? And I understand that, and I knew there would be times where records wouldn't sell as much when I got away from those particular people, but I was cool with that because success pretty much is what you make it to be.

KING: So you're saying, then, you do need the suits, so to speak?

PRINCE: It depends on what you gauge success to be. I...

KING: What do you? Is financial your gauge word?

PRINCE: No, not so much because once I do the music, it's a success there. I mean, that's it for me. Now, on the selling tip, for example, if an album goes down the chart, that isn't something I can control. I just did the music.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: I know so many people today, so many of you are just so in disbelief here, as we are honoring the life, the man, the legend, the pioneer, the Minneapolis native, Prince.

Arsenio Hall tweeting: "The world lost an unrivaled artist. I lost a friend who I could always depend on. Rest in peace."

L.A. Reid: "This is what it sounds like when the world cries. Prince, I already miss you. Your melodies will live on forever."

I have standing by in New York Don Lemon, Michaela Angela Davis, former stylist for Prince, Sian-Pierre Regis, editor for Swagger in New York, and Chris Witherspoon, CNN entertainment commentator.

Chris, let me begin with you, because I think a lot people may not realize Prince had been writing his first book, a memoir. According to Prince, a quote from him recently, we are starting, he -- and his brother was helping him -- "Starting from the beginning from my first memory and hopefully we can go all the way to the Super Bowl."

Tell me about that.

CHRIS WITHERSPOON, CNN ANALYST: Yes. This book was really going to be a tell-all. Random House was going to publish. It was supposed to come out next year. It was titled "The Beautiful Ones."

And Prince was so excited about this book. And I think Prince was really at a place in his career where he was ready to lift the veil and let us into his world and really let his fans go on the journey with his music, his personal life, love life, his many I guess affairs, if you will, and let us really in.

(CROSSTALK)

WITHERSPOON: It's really unfortunate that we are not going to get this book, "The Beautiful Ones."

BALDWIN: Sian-Pierre, last time we talked, we were talking in the wake of that concert he put on in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray.

And he wrote this song called "Baltimore." And the first stanza, "Nobody got in nobody's way, so I guess you could say it was a good day, at least a little better than the day in Baltimore. Does anybody hear us pray for Michael Brown or Freddie Gray? Peace is more than the absence of war, absence of war."

Why was that important for him to be there to put on that show?

SIAN-PIERRE REGIS, SWAGGER: You know, it seems that through his whole career, Prince has really cared not only about the music, but also to be a voice of social justice, right?

And so that was important because there were so few artists speaking out after deaths of so many black lives. I think P. Diddy had a song out. It didn't really track. But then when people heard Prince was rally behind it, this was a moment, right, this was a moment to bring people together and bring some sort of recognition that people were upset and that black lives were invisible.

But this wasn't the only time he spoke out. He spoke out after Katrina and wrote a couple of songs about that. He spoke out about HIV/AIDS and drugs in the community and on multiple tracks. He really was a voice to push the political conversation forward.

BALDWIN: Michaela, to you, why was that so important to him, to be the voice as he was?

[15:20:01]

MICHAELA ANGELA DAVIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, Prince is royalty to us. Right?

We called him his purple highness. He was able to fearlessly feel, so of course he's going to speak to social injustice. Of course he's going to speak to the crack epidemic. Of course he's going the speak to black lives, because he was brave.

And as an artist like a Nina Simone or like Stevie Wonder, one of his mentors, he was unafraid to let the world channel through his music. Right? For us, it was not so -- he was a revolutionary, so we expected him to speak and he made it so funky and also so sexy and so cool.

Sometimes, when you get protest music or civil rights music, it's very -- it's protest music. But he can make you dance about crack because of "Alphabet Street." Right? That's what he was talking about. And crack was ravishing the black community and he made a funky song about it.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: You are so funky and sexy and cool, Michaela Angela Davis. I'm not surprised to learn that you were a stylist to Prince for so many years.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: You know what, Brooke? You know what she just said to me when I was talking about James Brown and all? She said, don't forget, he had a pressing curl as well. He straightened it -- that's why I think the androgyny part was so different, because this was an artist of color who was fighting for and I think garnered the same freedom as a rocker, as rockers did.

He just wanted to be an artist. And the music -- and then you think about what he did. Who was doing movies? You know, Prince came along and topped the charts and he said, you know what? I'm going to do a movie I'm going to and win an Academy Award. It's like, you know what, boy? Go ahead, and do you thing.

BALDWIN: Can I go through all of you all?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Right, "Batman."

Can I go through all of you? Let's just -- because I'm a music nerd, I would love to hear from each of you. And I know this is like asking to pick your favorite child, but tell me a favorite Prince song and why.

Chris, to you first.

WITHERSPOON: I think that Prince was poetic "When Doves Cry." Lines to that song to me really hit me.

LEMON: Just when you hear it.

(CROSSTALK)

WITHERSPOON: I was a little boy and I knew what doves were, but I didn't know doves cried.

And I asked my mom. And my mom, that's poetry, Chris. And even Oprah treated -- she was like the doves really are crying right now listening to your music.

I think Prince was a poet, along with being an artist, and that's what I love about his music.

BALDWIN: Michaela, what about you?

DAVIS: "Conditions of the Heart" was my favorite ballad. I asked him to sing it once at a concert and he did, so I died.

BALDWIN: Oh, my gosh. What?

(LAUGHTER)

DAVIS: But then also "Irresistible B" was a favorite dance song, but then tomorrow, it's going to be another one. In 10 minutes, it's going to be something else. But now I just keep hearing "Conditions of the Heart," because mine is breaking.

BALDWIN: It's emotional. It's emotional for so many people, so many people today.

LEMON: I think Michaela was closest to him. I didn't know him personally, but you were his stylist, so you knew him well. And I spoke with Van Jones.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I talked to Van, too.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: There are a lot of people who were close to him, their hearts are breaking, yes.

BALDWIN: Breaking.

LEMON: Yes. He told me he had spoken to you. Yes.

BALDWIN: Sian-Pierre, to you, favorite song?

REGIS: Mine is a little silly, but it was "1999" only because you will remember Y2K. I was in high school and it was such a big controversy and my friends got together and we were like 1999.

And it just a big night. It's a big memory for me, a really important one. To have all of my friends together, it was an existential crisis.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: We have it. We have it cued up. Let's listen to it right now.

REGIS: I think we can all agree that "Purple Rain" is life-changing.

(MUSIC)

BALDWIN: Lisa France, by the way, is still sitting in here with me and we are singing along to every single word.

Don Lemon, favorite song?

LEMON: Well, the first one I knew was "Head." This was 19 -- probably '80.

"Soft and Wet," which was 1978. I'm old school. And then "Controversy" because of the lyrics. Those are mine. You can put those on and I will start dancing and it cheers me up right away. Old school Prince fan. I like the old stuff. I like the new stuff, but the old stuff sticks into my heart. And it goes back much further for me.

[15:25:00]

DAVIS: But it's not even old. It was so timeless.

LEMON: Yes.

DAVIS: Right?

LEMON: It's hard. You can't hear it on -- what I loved is that you can't get it on Spotify or any of those things.

If you want to listen to Prince, I have to go and I got to put it on either something that I have downloaded or put my old vinyl needle on the record.

(CROSSTALK)

REGIS: Or watch it on YouTube.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Some of it, you still can't get on YouTube. Yes.

BALDWIN: Let's take a quick break.

I want to continue celebrating the life of Prince when we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE: I used Stevie Wonder as an inspiration, whom I look up to a great deal just for the way that he crafted music and his connection to the spirit. And, boy, back then I used him as a role model in trying to play all the instruments and be very self-contained and keep my vision clear. So word spread very quickly about what I could do. A lot of people knew about it.

KING: How would you describe your music? What idiom would you put it in?

PRINCE: The only thing I could think of, because I really don't like categories, but the only thing I could think of is inspirational. And I think music that is from the heart falls right into that category, people who really feel what it is that they're doing. And ultimately all music is or can be inspirational. And it's -- that's why it's so important to let your gift be guided by something more clear.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)