One week after putting on a show-stopping performance at Atlanta's Fox Theater, Prince Rogers Nelson — better known as Prince — was found unresponsive in an elevator inside of his Paisley Park studio compound. His April 21, 2016 death sparked an outpouring of grief from the music world and beyond, with many in utter disbelief that the music legend's life was cut so short.
It was later determined "he died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is 50 times more powerful than heroin," according to the Associated Press. News of his cause of death sparked countless questions about the "Little Red Corvette" singer's life. Though it was apparent he lived a rich and glamorous lifestyle, his shocking death also unearthed painful secrets about his past and incredible stories about his anonymous good works. From substance abuse and tremendous loss to politics and social activism, here are the many secrets Prince tried to hide.
Of all the secrets Prince kept in his life, arguably the most heavily guarded was the birth of his son in 1996. At the time, tabloids were running rampant with rumors that the baby had been born with health problems or birth defects. Eventually, the media circus grew so crazy that Prince's record company finally acknowledged that, yes, Prince and his then-wife, Mayte Garcia-Nelson, had given birth. Nothing was mentioned about the boy's condition, according to Entertainment Weekly.