A law-enforcement official reveals that tests show Prince died of an opioid overdose. The official, who is close to the investigation, spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media. Prince Rogers Nelson was found dead at the age of 57 on April 21. His unresponsive body was discovered inside an elevator at his Paisley Park estate just outside Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Prince’s former drug dealer seemed to think that opioids were behind the singer’s death when he spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com in April and revealed that the performer would spend up to $40,000 on six-month supplies of Dilaudid pills and Fentanyl patches.
Those two drugs are incredibly powerful opioids, and were both found in the home of Michael Jackson in the days after he died of a drug overdose. The dealer also suggested that it could have been a doctor who unknowingly contributed to the singer’s death by prescribing strong pain killers for his hip problems while unaware of his secret addiction to opioids.
It was reported shortly after Prince’s death that the highly addictive painkiller Percocet – which contains both acetaminophen and oxycodone – had been found in his system. There were also reports around that time claiming Prince had been treated for an overdose of Percocet just six days before his death.