Longtime Chef: Prince Fought Throat, Stomach Pains Recently

 

On stage, Prince was still captivating audiences at recent performances in Australia and California. He hosted a pop-up party at his Paisley Park studio, and there were few outward signs in his final months that anything was wrong.

But off stage, something was different. Prince began wanting meals that were easier to digest and was fighting off waves of sore throats and frequent upset stomachs, the musician’s personal chef told The Associated Press.

A law enforcement official has told the AP that investigators are looking into whether Prince, who was found dead at his home on April 21, died from an overdose and whether a doctor was prescribing him drugs in the weeks beforehand. The official has been briefed on the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Ray Roberts, who cooked for Prince nearly every day for almost three years, said in an interview that wasn’t the man he saw nearly every night, “not even a hint. Not at all.” But Roberts did start noticing changes in Prince’s diet — he was eating less and drinking less water, and looked like he was losing weight.

 

“It felt like he wasn’t himself probably the last month or two,” Roberts said. “I think he was just struggling with being sick a lot.”

Prince, who didn’t eat meat, normally loved foods like roasted beets and minestrone soup with a harissa chermoula, an herb sauce from North Africa. In recent months, Roberts said, as Prince would have sore throats or seem like he wasn’t feeling well for “weeks at a time,” he would prefer smoothies and fresh juices to soothe his throat or stomach.

Stomach and throat ailments aren’t unusual in a stubbornly cold Minnesota winter, and to the public, there was little to suggest something was amiss.

Since Prince’s death, fans who saw him recently have talked about his energy and his mesmerizing performances with just a microphone and a piano. Many who saw his final public appearance at Paisley Park only days before he died said he may have seemed more tired — one person who was at one of his last shows in Atlanta said his speaking voice was weak at times — but overall he was not changed.