Prince suffered childhood epilepsy

Posted on February 28, 2010 by David

Most of us associate Prince with classic pop tunes and outlandish outfits, but this star has been keeping a secret from the media for years.

In April 2009, the 51-year-old spoke for the first time about the problems he faced as a child due to epilepsy. Talking on the Tavis Smiley show, Prince told the host that he was “born epileptic”, according to The Huffington Post:

“My mother and father didn’t know what to do or how to handle it but they did the best they could with what little they had,” he said.

He went on to talk about how be believed divine intervention had helped him overcome the condition, which is known to sometimes disappear when the child reaches adulthood.

“My mother told me one day I walked into her and said, ‘Mom, I’m not gonna be sick anymore.’ And she said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Because an angel told me so.’ Now, I don’t remember saying it, that’s just what she told me, and from that point on I’ve been having to deal with a lot of things, getting teased in school.”

The Purple Rain singer has previously alluded to this condition in one of his songs, the BBC points out.

His 1992 album track The Sacrifice of Victor contains the lyric “Epileptic ’til the age of seven”. This is followed by the word “true” written in mirrored writing in the CD booklet.