Prince's Substance Abuse Traced Back to Bathtub Injury In New Book

“Nothing Compares 2 U: An Oral History of Prince" is set to give people major insights into the life and legacy of the late great Prince. Many of the stories within the book will potentially help people understand what the singer was going through in his final days. Which eventually as is well-known led to his untimely death. One of the issues that Prince was dealing with in his final years was substance abuse. According to Prince’s long-time tour manager, that, issue came as a result of a failed concert gimmick.     

Yves Lorson from Kapellen, Belgium, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In the book that is set to be released tomorrow,  Alan Leeds recalled that Prince suffered a major accident during a Purple Rain Tour. The issue would’ve had to have occurred right around Christmas in 1984. As those were the tour dates that he had scheduled for St. Paul on that particular tour. Possibly as a way to be home for Christmas. In a tour that saw him play 98 concert dates in about a year. The gimmick that Prince was trying to pull off saw him be laying in a bathtub that was raised 10 or 12 feet about the ground. 

https://twitter.com/PressRewindPod/status/1429549355351093251

According to Alan Leeds in one of the rehearsals leading up to those St. Paul tour dates, the bathtub was raised with Prince in it up to the 12-foot height. Only to come crashing down to the stage floor seconds later. Leeds recalls the incident in the book detailing, 

“It fell 10 or 12 feet with him in it. I never moved so fast in my life,”   

Leeds also remembered that later on that same tour, Prince fell and had a bad knee injury. He played all but one of the scheduled concerts on the tour that year. Leeds hints that he did so while on some pretty heavy painkillers! 

People who knew Prince in his teens and early adult years don’t recall the young Prince being overly hooked on drugs. Hence, their major surprise when the cause of death for the star was ultimately revealed. In another story that is featured in the book, The Time frontman, Morris Day detailed a time he tried mushrooms with Prince saying

“I got some mushrooms and we both tried them. We went to a club and this dude starts freaking out,” Day continued saying, “Next thing I know, he’s sitting on the floor with his head in his hands, and he was tripping like his mind was playing games on him. He was like, ‘I’m not never doing this s–t with you no more.” 

Lorie Shaull from Washington, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The bathtub incident was very much a turning point in Prince’s life. At least that’s what people close to him seem to believe. Most of the stories about Prince and drugs earlier in his life are actually few and far between. The back injury suffered in the bathtub incident potentially got him started on an over-the-counter drug addiction. 

In the mid to early 80s, though, Prince was spending long hours in the studio. In one of the most wholesome stories in the book, people close to Prince remember how he would cope with the long hours. The cocaine-riddled 80s weren't that crazy, for Prince. He was going through even 24-hour recording sessions by indulging in all sorts of desserts. He had a massive sweet tooth! Sadly, he ultimately did pick up other habits that lead to his untimely death!