Devoted fans gathered outside of Prince’s Paisley Park recording studio in Chanhassen, Minnesota, all day and night on Thursday, April 21, following his death at age 57.
Prince’s sister Tyka Nelson emerged from the studio at one point with a smile on her face to greet and thank everyone who had come out to pay their respects to the late “Purple Rain” singer. “He really loved you all,” Nelson said to the crowd, according to an onlooker.
Although the Carver County Sheriff’s Department blocked off the road in front of Paisley Park, hundreds of fans, dressed in everything from purple wigs to purple Minnesota Vikings jerseys, visited the legendary studio, the onlooker tells Us Weekly.
Mourners were asked by a woman who worked closely with Prince to stay behind a barricade “out of respect for the family” unless they were leaving flowers or memorabilia along the fence. Other members of Prince’s team were stationed around the perimeter of the estate from the time the first group of reporters arrived at the scene just before noon on Thursday. Fittingly, a perfect rainbow appeared over the studio just hours after his death.
As Us Weekly previously reported, the seven-time Grammy winner was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m. The Carver County Sheriff’s Department had responded to a medical emergency call about an unresponsive male in an elevator at about 9:43 a.m., but by the time medical personnel arrived at Paisley Park, they were unable to revive the pop icon. Although the exact cause of death is not yet known, Prince had been feeling ill with flu-like symptoms. His autopsy will be conducted on Friday, April 22.
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