Musical genius Prince died April 21 at the age of 57. Subscribe now for an inside look into his private life and shocking death.
Prince was an iconic singer-songwriter and a seven-time Grammy winner, but here are 10 incredibly normal things you never knew about the late Purple Rain star:
1. He was skilled at basketball.
“I can attest personally, he was a great basketball player,” former manager and Purple Rain producer Bob Cavallo told PEOPLE. “He made shots from everywhere with either hand.”
2. He was shy as a kid.
“I thought he would achieve success as a local musician because he was a natural musician, he had the ear, but he was so shy – nothing like the stage persona he put on later,” recalled Prince’s 7th grade music teacher, Jimmy Hamilton.
3. He played around before biology class.
Before class, Prince would play his guitar in the school’s practice rooms.
“I would go in and break up the jam session and make the kids go to biology class!” explained Hamilton, who added, “Every morning [Prince] was always at the door at 8 a.m. waiting to get into the band room.”
4. He would go for bike rides.
Prince was spotted biking through Chanhassen near his Paisley Park compound earlier this month.
“He looked laid-back and just kind of breezing through,” said McKensie Hasse, a local convenience store employee who saw him just days before his death.
5. He was an avid reader.
“He used to read all these kinds of magazines,” said Cavallo. “He would go through all of the spicy kind of entertainment news – I’m talking early days … Not in the latter part of his life.”
6. He liked ice cream.
One of Prince’s personal assistant in the ’80s, Tina Kahn, would go on ice-cream runs for him.
“One time he tossed me the [car] keys to go grab him some ice cream,” said Kahn, who’s also the daughter of Prince’s longtime body guard, Charles ‘Big Chick’ Huntsberry.
7. He would keep candy by his bed.
“He kept a jar of candy next to his bed at all times – M&M’s,” says Huntsberry’s daughter, Brigitte.
8. He would perform at high school dances.
Prince played at Sadie Hawkins and homecoming dances. “He would play every instrument,” said Prince’s high school classmate Robert Vernon Plant. “He didn’t stick to just one [and] if I remember correctly it was a group he played with like Morris Day and André Cymone.”
9. He shared his musical talent.
“I was in this music class and Prince was playing stand-up bass … He came over and he says real quiet, ‘Let me teach you this bassline on the piano,'” recalled Plant.
10. He enjoyed playing volleyball.
Prince would go to the Huntsberry family’s Fourth of July cookouts, and play volleyball in his signature high heels.
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