Fans Gather at Prince’s Home One Year After His Death

Fans are marking the anniversary of U.S. musician Prince’s sudden death from an accidental drug overdose with visits to his Paisley Park home, which has been turned into a museum.

The museum is hosting a four-day event that includes concert performances by Prince’s former band-mates and panel discussions.

It was a year ago Friday that the pop legend was found dead at Paisley Park, a recording complex outside Minneapolis, Minnesota, where Prince lived and created his music.

Fans come to grieve

Fans who came to the complex Friday included Mary Adams, who drove six hours from Kansas City, Missouri, with her 10-year-old daughter.

“I needed to come here. This is where it began. I needed to pay homage to the star,” she said.

Adams said Prince had a profound impact on her life.

“Prince is the person that helped me decide that is was OK to be me, because that’s who he was. And he did it his way, his music, his style,” she added.

Minneapolis landmarks in purple

Fans are also holding a street party Saturday outside First Avenue, the club Prince made famous in Purple Rain, the title track of his breakthrough 1984 album and movie.

Landmarks around Minneapolis are being lighted in purple for two nights in tribute to Prince, while the Minnesota History Center is holding a special exhibit of Prince memorabilia.

The anniversary was supposed to be celebrated by the release of new Prince music. However, a Minnesota district court this week issued a temporary injunction barring the release of the six-song EP Deliverance after Prince’s estate filed a lawsuit claiming the works were stolen by his former sound engineer.

Prince’s commercial legacy continues to be surrounded in controversy. The pop star died without a will or children, and dozens of people came forward after his death, claiming they were heirs.

Musical legacy

Prince died at 57 from an accidental overdose of powerful painkillers he was secretly using to ease the pain of hip surgery.

Prince was 19 when he released his first album, For You, in 1978. In the decades that followed, the multi-talented musician released 1999, Little Red Corvette and Purple Rain.

He sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, won seven Grammys and picked up an Oscar for Best Original Song score for Purple Rain. He was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Rhonda Soso said Friday that she came from California to Paisley Park “just to be a part of the purple family, the purple army, just be a part of just his spirit, just his energy.”

“It’s just still so difficult accepting that he’s no longer here,” she added.

(Photo courtesy of Bobak Ha'Eri.)

Singer Natalie Cole Dead at 65

Grammy award-winning singer Natalie Cole, the daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, is dead at the age of 65.

Cole died Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from "ongoing health issues,” according to a family statement. The statement said Cole "fought a fierce, courageous battle, dying how she lived — with dignity, strength and honor."

In quoting her most identifiable song, the family also said, "Our beloved mother and sister will be greatly missed and remain UNFORGETTABLE in our hearts forever," putting the name of the song in capital letters.

Celebrity gossip website TMZ said Cole died from congestive heart failure, but that it had been told the underlying medical issues were complications from a kidney transplant and hepatitis C. Cole had struggled with drug and alcohol problems in the past and underwent a kidney transplant in 2009.

'Unforgettable' career

Natalie Cole began her career as an R&B singer and had hits that included the Grammy-winning song, "This Will Be."

Cole's career, however, reached superstar status when she recorded the 1991 album, Unforgettable...With Love, which paid tribute to her father, who died in 1965. The album included reworked versions of some of his best-known songs. The title song, "Unforgettable," featured Natalie Cole's voice spliced with her father's. Engineers used technology that was considered cutting edge at the time to make it appear as if father and daughter were singing a duet.

The song was a hit for Nat King Cole in 1951. The song and the album garnered several Grammy awards for Natalie Cole. In addition to R&B, Natalie Cole delved into pop and jazz music. Other hits included "Our Love" and the reworked "Pink Cadillac," a song originally by Bruce Springsteen.

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson was among those paying tribute to Natalie Cole.

In a tweet, he described her as a "sister beloved ... of substance and sound. May her soul rest in peace."