According to The Washington Post, Maurice Phillips, the brother-in-law of Prince, says sleep deprivation may have been a factor in the sudden death of the music icon.
It has been five days since Prince’s death, but the exact cause remains a mystery. A preliminary sheriff’s briefing discounted trauma and suicide, but the official autopsy report could take weeks before it becomes public. In the meantime, possible comments from Maurice Phillips, who is married to Prince’s sister, Tyka Nelson, are stoking speculation that sleep deprivation may have contributed to the musician’s death.
Phillips reportedly told a crowd near Paisley Park, Prince’s recording studio in Minnesota, that the musician had “worked 154 hours straight” in the days leading up to his death. “I was with him just last weekend,” Phillips is said to have told fans, according to the Britain-based Press Association. “He was a good brother-in-law.”
Prince had a famous work ethic and a penchant for recording at all hours of the day. Those close to the musician have remarked on his ability to get by on very few winks. No matter how good you are at playing the guitar at 4 a.m., though, six days without sleep is a risky feat of endurance.
