Soul legend Mavis Staples kicked off her second weekend Coachella festival set with a tribute to Prince on Friday.
Calling the late superstar “a dear friend” and “my son”, the music veteran recalled meeting Prince for the first time as she kicked off proceedings at the desert festival.
“He was my angel,” Mavis told fans in the Gobi tent. “The first time I met Prince, he came to the Shrine auditorium (in Los Angeles). My family was having a concert… (My sisters) were saying, ‘He’s so cool! He’s so cute! He’s so good-looking!’ I say, ‘I’m gonna play it cool’.
“He came up, and I (screamed) uncontrollably.”
Mavis, who released two albums as an artist on Prince’s Paisley Park label, then asked for a moment of silence, before leading fans in an a cappella rendition of Purple Rain.
Rapper Joey Bada$$ also paid tribute to Prince at Coachella on Friday, performing a sample of the late star’s hit 1999 as his famous symbol appeared on a screen behind the festival act.
Prince died aged 57 on Thursday.
A post-mortem examination was carried out by the Midwest medical examiner on Friday, and shortly after its completion, officials in Carver County held their first press conference in the case.
Sheriff Jim Olsen opened the news update by urging the media to “respect” the singer’s privacy as he and his colleagues continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the 57-year-old’s death.
“This is a tragedy for all of us,” he began. “To you, Prince Rogers Nelson was a celebrity; to us, he’s a community member and a good neighbour. To his family, he’s a loved one.
“In life, he was a very private person. We’re gonna continue to respect his privacy and his dignity and hope that you do as well…”
Sheriff Olsen then revealed there were “no obvious signs of trauma” on Prince’s body, and declared they were not looking into his death as a suicide. However, he declined to officially rule out foul play.
“We have no reason to believe it was a suicide, the rest of it is under investigation,” he explained, stressing the case was only “29-hours-old”.
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