INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

Prince’s Vault Reportedly Drilled Open, And Did He Die From AIDS?

By Trisha Faulkner
Published on: 05:13 PST, Apr 30, 2016

It was on Thursday, April 21, that music legend Prince suddenly passed away at the age of 57. It didn’t take long before fans of Prince started to question whether or not the vault rumored to contain hundreds of unreleased music would be opened.

The Inquisitr reported sources claim there are 200 different unreleased Prince songs in the mysterious vault. Naturally, fans wondered whether or not the vault would be opened so the music could be released for the public to enjoy.

It has been reported by PEOPLE Magazine that Bremer Bank, the St. Cloud Minnesota institution who has temporarily been given authority of Prince’s estate, drilled the vault open as Prince was the only person who had a code for it. Bremer Bank is the same institute who Prince has trusted with his finances for many years now.

According to Earn the Necklace, a source claimed the vault holds hours of original, unreleased recordings on cassette tapes. The vault is rumored to be the size of a utility closet and is armed with five different locks. Several sources also claimed the vault is a big room with shelves that are sealed with a large spinning wheel.

“[Bremer Bank] respects the privacy of [its] customers and it is [its] policy not to reveal the names of [its] customers or information related to requests for services.”

With this statement, Bremer Bank has made it clear that they do not have plans to release anything that was found in the vault anytime soon (if at all). According to the institute, this is out of respect for Prince. This high respect of his privacy is likely one of the reasons why Prince trusted the institute with his finances for so many years.

Prince had previously and openly spoken about his treasure trove of music in his vault on the television show The View.

“One day, someone will release them. I don’t know that I’ll get to release them. There’s just so many.”

It was in 2012 that Prince made this comment on The View about his vault of musical treasures.

Donald David, an entertainment attorney who represented the estates of TLC’s Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez and Tupac Shakur after they passed away, knows from his past experience that some of the material Prince left behind in the vault may require a significant amount of editing before it is even shareable.

“Some of it can be used, some of it can’t be used. But you’re going to see unreleased Prince albums – if it is properly managed – for the next two decades. As long as the estate is well-managed – and they don’t go for a quick hit by doing something like selling his publishing rights – it will produce income into [what would have been] his great-grandchildren’s years without any problems.”

Aside from the question of what exactly he had stashed in the vault, the other big question Prince fans have been asking is what will happen to his estate? It wasn’t too long after Prince passed away that his sister revealed he did not have a will or trust in place.

Based on the state law, Prince’s estate will be divided evenly among his six living siblings – Tyka Nelson, John Nelson, Norrine Nelson, Sharon Nelson, Alfred Jackson, and Omarr Baker.

Results from the autopsy have yet to be confirmed. There have been a lot of rumors circulating regarding how the music star died including that Prince may have died of AIDS. Not only is this particular statement a rumor, it is a rumor only being printed by tabloids – not credible news outlets. To date, there has not been any proof to back up the claims made that he had or died of AIDS. Prince’s body was cremated after the autopsy and laid to rest by his close friends and family members.

What do you think should happen to the music in Prince’s vault?

[Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images]

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