Thousands attend public memorial service for Prince in downtown LA

ByJory Rand and ABC7.com staff KABC logo
Saturday, May 7, 2016
Thousands attend public memorial service for Prince in downtown LA
A public memorial service was held for Prince at Los Angeles City Hall, the primary location of the late music icon's 'Diamonds and Pearls' music video.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A public memorial service was held for Prince at Los Angeles City Hall, the primary location of the late music icon's 'Diamonds and Pearls' music video.

The Grammy and Oscar-winner died on April 21 after being found unresponsive in an elevator at his suburban Minneapolis studio complex. He was 57.

Thousands of Angelenos attended his celebration of life, which began at 5 p.m. outside City Hall in the 200 block of N. Spring Street in downtown L.A.

"Prince showed you how to party, so today, here in L.A., we're going to party as if Prince was here," an attendee told Eyewitness News.

Faith Evans, Eric Benet, Aloe Blacc, Kenny Lattimore and The Time all performed to celebrate the legend.

Spring Street closed at W. 1st and W. Temple streets until 9 p.m., as music blasted and purple-clad Prince fans danced the night away.

MORE: Monuments light up in purple to honor Prince

Meanwhile, investigators were looking into whether Prince died from an overdose and whether a doctor was prescribing him drugs in the weeks before he was found dead at his home.

Prince's death came two weeks after he canceled concerts in Atlanta, saying he wasn't feeling well. He played a pair of makeup shows April 14 in that city. Prince was scheduled to perform two shows in St. Louis but canceled them shortly before his death due to health concerns.

The Associated Press contributed to this report