Prince ‘died of an opioid overdose’

Autopsy results: Prince died on April 21
Yui Mok/PA Wire/Press Association Images
Emma Powell2 June 2016
The Weekender

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Legendary musician Prince died of an overdose, it has been reported.

A law-enforcement official told The Associated Press that tests showed the late singer died of an opioid overdose.

The news comes weeks after investigators set about reviewing whether Prince died of an overdose or whether a doctor was prescribing him drugs in the weeks before his death.

Prince was found dead at his Paisley Park Estate on April 21.

Minnesota doctor Michael Todd Schulenberg – who prescribed medication and saw the pop star the day before he died – was last month interviewed by investigators who also searched a Minneapolis hospital where he worked.

Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a California addiction specialist, was asked by Prince's representatives on April 20 to help the singer.

Dr Kornfeld – who sent his son Andrew on a redeye flight that night – was among the people who found Prince's unresponsive body the next morning, according to Mr Kornfeld's attorney, William Mauzy.

Andrew – who is not a doctor – was carrying buprenorphine, a medication that can be used to treat opioid addiction. It was reported that he planned to give it to a Minnesota doctor who had scheduled to see Prince on April 21.

News of his death came a week after he was taken unconscious on a plane and given a ‘save shot’ of Narcan, which is used in suspected opioid overdoses.

The singer then spent several hours in hospital before flying home.

Prince cancelled two gigs as part of his Piano and a Microphone tour in the weeks before his death which was reportedly due to ill health.

Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis recently revealed that the Raspberry Beret singer had been planning to make his debut at this year’s event.

“I was going to meet his agent, it was all planned but it didn’t happen,” he told The Sun.

“His death was so sad. That’s a real star that we never had.”

The Worthy Farm event will pay tribute to the star later this month.

Prince - In pictures

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