Remembering Prince

The addiction specialist who was at Prince's house the day he died brought a backpack containing a synthetic opiate ... and his criminal defense lawyer now insists he should not be prosecuted.

Prince's people called Dr. Howard Kornfeld the day before the singer died, saying they believed Prince was on the verge of dying from drugs. Prince was apparently on board to get help, but the doctor said it would be 2 days before he could get there.

Dr. Kornfeld sent his son, Andrew, who worked at their facility -- Recovery Without Walls. Andrew flew out early and was at Prince's home the day he died.

Andrew's lawyer, William Mauzy, just said Andrew did not supply Prince with any drugs, although he did have synthetic opiates in his backpack. The drug is called buprenorphine, a synthetic opiate for pain management and to wean people off actual opiates.

It was Andrew who called 911 after the staff found Prince unconscious in the elevator.

Prince was supposed to meet with a doctor specializing in addiction treatment the day after he died ... to deal with a "grave medical condition."

Dr. Howard Kornfeld, a national authority on opioid addiction, could not clear his schedule on April 21st, so he sent his son, Andrew, to meet with the singer ... this according to the Star Tribune.

Dr. Kornfeld was supposed to come the following day, and his son -- who works with him at the Recovery Without Walls clinic -- was going to outline the course of treatment. Andrew is the person who called 911 to report Prince was lifeless in the elevator.

According to the report, Dr. Kornfeld was initially contacted by one of Prince's reps, who said the singer "was dealing with a grave medical emergency."

The Minneapolis Fire Dept. just made a big change ... a life-saving drug for people who OD is now part of its emergency toolbox ... just weeks after Prince's death.

The brass says NARCAN has been on their radar for months, so the timing is just coincidence.

TMZ broke the story ... NARCAN, the so-called "save shot," probably did just that -- saved Prince's life 6 days before his death after his plane made an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois after he OD'd on Percocet.

Someone made an urgent call to the Carver County Sheriff's Dept. asking for help, because "the caller is concerned about Prince's cocaine habits."

The call came in June 20, 2011 ... this according to records just released by the Sheriff's Dept.

According to records, the caller said Prince had told her the year before in Germany that he "cannot control his habit."

Sheriff's personnel discussed the matter after the caller hung up, and then called the woman back. They told her the information was stale since it was a year old and since there was no proof Prince was in immediate danger they closed the case.

There's another record of an emergency call in the just released docs. In October 2013, a call came in for a 53-year-old male who was "dehydrated." He was transported to a medical center.

And in the records that were just released, it mentions that someone called April 21st, just after the singer died, saying she has a 17-year-old son who was fathered by Prince and she wanted him to attend the funeral.

There's a twist in the brewing war among Prince's brothers and sisters ... it involves a missing persons report and allegations one of the singer's siblings is trying to wrest power from the group.

Our sources say last Friday ... someone filed a missing persons report/welfare check involving Alfred Jackson, the elder half brother of Prince. According to the report, Alfred is disabled and has been living in a V.A. facility near Minneapolis.

The person who filed the police report claims Alfred just left the facility and no one could find him.

Here's what's interesting. TMZ broke the story ... Alfred was in a meeting last Thursday with Prince's other brothers and sisters. We publicized the meeting on the website. It's odd someone filed a missing persons/welfare check report the next day.

Our sources say Alfred believes the person who filed the report is a sibling who is trying to get him declared mentally incompetent so they can get power of attorney and a second vote in what is turning into a battle over Prince's estate.

We're told Alfred and his lawyer, Frank Wheaton, went to the Minneapolis Police Dept. over the weekend to prove he was fully competent. Alfred presented proof he's got his meds, is taking them and is of sound mind. We're told the missing persons case is now closed.

Sinead O'Connor is blaming Prince's drug problems on his good friend, Arsenio Hall -- but he says the Irish singer is totally full of it.

Sinead went on the attack, saying ... "Two words for the DEA investigating where (sic) prince got his drugs over the decades ... Arsenio Hall (AKA Prince's and Eddie Murphy's bitch)."

She went on to say on her Facebook page ... she's actually reported Arsenio to the Carver County Sheriff's department, which is investigating Prince's death.

A rep for Arsenio says Sinead's claim is "absolutely false, ridiculous and absurd."

She can thank Prince for writing her biggest hit, "Nothing Compares 2 U" -- but fact is, Sinead was NOT close to Prince ... and she's made other outrageous claims about him. She once alleged he punched her and held her against her will at Paisley Park.

Prince's riches might get split 7 ways instead of 6 because a woman is claiming she's entitled to a cut of the late singer's multi-million dollar estate.

Lawyers for Darcell Johnston filed legal docs in Prince's probate case saying she's a beneficiary.

Sources close to Prince's family tell us Darcell is claiming to be a long lost half sister ... same mother, but different father from the singer. We're told some members of Prince's family only learned of Darcell's existence a few days ago.

We broke the story ... Prince didn't have a will, so by Minnesota law his estate should be split equally among his 6 surviving siblings.

As special administrator of the estate, Bremer Trust bank will look into the legitimacy of Darcell's claim, although the court will have final say.

We've reached out to Darcell to see if she had any relationship with Prince. So far no word back.

Prince did not lose all rights to his music in a billion dollar bet ... according to Prince's estate, which is shutting down that exact claim from a random guy.

Bremer Trust bank, the administrator of the estate, responded to Rodney Dixon's rambling legal filing -- in which he says he won the rights to "Purple Rain," "Raspberry Beret," "Kiss" and every other song Prince ever wrote -- because they had a bet over whether Prince was the Messiah.

Yeah, it sounds crazy, and that's basically what Bremer Trust points out.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, the bank says Dixon's claim is "frivolous," and he would need to have a written agreement to transfer ownership of Prince's catalog. Dixon admits all he has is a "verbal and implied agreement."

That doesn't cut it for the estate ... which wants the court to toss the claim. We've reached out to Dixon, but he hasn't gotten back to us.

7:20 AM PT -- The probate hearing ended and most of the siblings signed off on Bremer Trust bank being named special administrator of Prince's estate.

His half brother, John R. Nelson, was not in court, but an attorney said John did not sign the consent form -- but the judge approved the petition to put the bank in charge. John was the only living sibling not present.

Prince's brothers and sisters are showing up for the first court hearing to divide the spoils of Prince's life, and it's already become an acrimonious process.

Tyka Nelson -- Prince's only full sibling -- is expected to show, along with Alfred and some of the other siblings. TMZ broke the story, Tyka stormed out of a meeting Friday after Alfred accused her of disrespecting him by not inviting him to Prince's memorial service.

We're told Tyka set the stage in the meeting for a money fight ... she feels she's entitled to more than 1/6 of the estate, but under Minnesota law all 6 siblings share equally.

Stevie Wonder told a disappointed crowd in New Orleans Jazz Fest was being torpedoed by a rainstorm, but he brought them back to life with a different type of rain.

Stevie, bullhorn in hand, led a tribute to Prince with a rousing rendition of "Purple Rain."

Prince passed up at least 8 pharmacies close to Paisley Park on his way to pick up prescription pills hours before his death ... and it could all have been to hide a paper trail of multiple prescriptions.

As TMZ reported ... Prince visited Walgreens chain drugstores 4 times in the week leading up to his death. However, the location the singer visited the night before his death was 6 miles from home. An odd choice considering there were several other pharmacies located just over a mile from his house.

Although it's unclear exactly why Prince traveled so far ... family members tell TMZ they were worried the singer was using multiple doctors and aliases. Most pharmacies will throw up a red flag if a patient visits too often ... so by visiting multiple locations in his area, the singer could have flown under the radar.

Authorities descended on a Walgreens near Paisley Park and served a search warrant on the pharmacy, TMZ has learned, looking for a prescription paper trail that could unravel the cause of Prince's death.

It's the same drug store chain where Prince made 4 Rx runs in the week leading up to his death.

We're told investigators made their move Thursday. Once inside, they beelined it for the pharmacy and spent several hours combing through records.

As we reported, authorities are especially interested in Percocet ... the drug that triggered a near-fatal OD 6 days before Prince's death. They're also looking for other prescriptions in Prince's name or identifiable aliases.

We're told investigators are also targeting other pharmacies and doctors who may have helped Prince procure meds.

Prince was able to get his supply of prescription drugs from more than one doctor ... and at least one of them was a "personal friend" of Prince ... this according to members of the singer's family.

TMZ broke the story ... Prince developed an addiction to Percocet sometime before his hip surgery in 2010, and almost died from an overdose 6 days before his death.

What's significant ... Percocet is a controlled substance, and a single doctor who prescribes an excessive number of pills will be flagged by state and federal authorities. As a result, as in Michael Jackson's case, someone addicted to a drug who needs more than the medically necessary amount will doctor shop.

As we reported, Prince went to a local Walgreens pharmacy 4 times in the week he died to fill prescriptions. Our sources say authorities are on the hunt for the various doctors who prescribed and pharmacies that filled Prince's prescriptions. We're told authorities are also interested in possible aliases the singer might have used.

It didn't take long ... Prince's sister Tyka went ballistic in the first meeting with the singer's siblings and marched out of the room ... and we're told it's already becoming a money squabble.

Sources with first-hand knowledge tell TMZ, the meeting was held Thursday in Minnesota. Tyka, Prince's younger sister, was present, along with brothers Alfred and Omarr.

We're told the meeting was tense, and 2 hours in Alfred expressed his displeasure that he was the only sibling excluded from Prince's memorial service, which Tyka planned. We're told an argument erupted and she stormed out of the room.

We're also told the brothers have a clear impression from the meeting ... Tyka thinks she's entitled to more than them when it comes time to divide Prince's assets. As we reported, under Minnesota law all 6 siblings -- irrespective of whether they're half or full -- share equally, but apparently Tyka doesn't see it that way.

Our sources say after Tyka left, a rep from the bank that was appointed as the administrator took Alfred on a tour of Prince's home and the area where he died "so he could properly grieve."

The customized piano Prince played at his final public performance was thiiis close to getting him to do something he almost NEVER did ... sign a big time endorsement deal.

Yamaha exec, Chris Gero, tells TMZ the company started negotiations with Prince's reps 4 months ago. The plan was for Yamaha to provide instruments and round-the-clock service for the remainder of Prince's "Piano & A Microphone" tour.

Yamaha sent Prince a $200,000 purple grand piano a few days before he died in hopes of closing the deal -- and it seemed to be working. Prince excitedly tweeted about it, and had it onstage with him when he played briefly during his Paisley Park dance party on the Saturday before his death.

Gero says all signs were pointing to them closing the deal when Prince died.

Authorities have obtained a search warrant for Prince's house, and in the docs there's an ominous warning ... if the justification for the warrant gets out it could cause others to destroy evidence.

The warrant was issued Thursday in Carver County, Minnesota, allowing cops to search the home in Paisley Park Studios, where the singer lived and died. Our sources say authorities want to see if there's evidence of drugs, correspondence, prescriptions and medical information that could help in the death investigation.

The sheriff's office says in the request for a warrant ... they want to keep the information in the warrant confidential because "premature disclosure of the details provided in the search warrant and its accompanying documents may compromise this law enforcement investigation by causing the search or related searches to be unsuccessful."

Translation ... we know authorities are interested in drugs that were prescribed by doctors and filled by pharmacies, and they don't want evidence tampering.

TMZ broke the story ... our Prince sources say it was known among close friends and family ... he had a Percocet addiction for years.

The judge ordered that the sensitive documents be sealed for 6 months or until the commencement of any criminal case.