OPINION: Did Prince's Love For Whiskey And Cigarettes Kill Him At Such A Young Age?

Fred Zindi writing for the Standard questioned if Prince Musarurwa’s love for whiskey and cigarettes caused his demise at the prime of his life. Prince Musarurwa succumbed to lung cancer on 15 February at Chinhoyi Hospital, he was 31 years old. 

Zindi opined:

Many people were shocked and are asking why he died so young. We do not know the cause of that lung cancer he died from. We can only speculate. We are not sure whether the lung cancer came naturally or this was due to his love for whisky and cigarettes. Whatever the cause, it killed him so young.

I first met Prince at the Zimbabwe College of Music. He had enrolled for the National Certificate in Music. The first question I asked Prince was whether he was related to the famous saxophonist, August, and he said that he was the grandson of August. With a cigarette in his right hand and Black Label lager in the left, he went on to tell me that he had dreams of being bigger than his grandfather. When I went back to the college a few weeks later, Prince had dropped out of the National Certificate in Music programme. Later, after their hit single, Runonzi Rudo, his niece, Pamhidzai Mbirimi, aka PaChihera, also joined the National Certificate in Music programme, but did not complete it either.

Prince had many fantasies in his life to the extent that he believed he would one day be bigger than his grandfather, August, of Skokiaan fame.

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Gift Musarurwa, younger brother of August, the late jazz veteran, who is currently based in Nurenberg, West Germany, posted a letter on his Facebook page which is purported to have been written by Prince on August 23, 2018 to his grandfather August Musarurwa. The letter, which is cited below shows this young man’s dreams

Dear Grandpa, August Musarurwa
There is so much I want to tell you . So much I want to show you. I know that I will never have the opportunity to tell you and show you all that I want to, but I know I can still talk to you spiritually, although sometimes I don’t understand some of the things that you will be trying to show me, it takes time for me to figure out. I never got a chance to play music with you. I would have loved us to fuse your saxophone with my mbira, playing all night drinking whisky.

Grandpa, I never got a chance to introduce you to my good friends I have met in the music industry- although I know you do appreciate and love them the way I do, and I know you chose them for me !… Thank you for showing up whenever I feel troubled in this life … Your presence always makes people get connected to good energy. Grandpa, I felt your presence yesterday and some few days ago. Ohh those are really special moments I cherish. Although I never got the chance to make you proud of me , I like to believe that wherever you are with your brothers , you are looking down at me with pride, Sinyoro. Thank you for choosing and trusting me to walk this journey.

Love,
Prince of Peace.

As you can see from this loaded letter, the young man had indeed dreams to fulfil and was spiritually connected to his famous grandfather, August, who died in 1968 before he was even born. He saw himself as heir to the Musarurwa throne as he went on to record several albums, which included Gara Muberevere and Gogodera. Before he even got famous in Zimbabwe he had toured Europe, the UK and the United States of America where his music was well received

More: The Standard