Did Prince Have Children?

In extremely sad news, the music industry lost one of its greatest people on Thursday morning: Iconic musician Prince died at the age of 57, according to TMZ. The death was also confirmed by his publicist. It's very unsettling, especially since the musician was not even 60 years old and seemingly had many years of life left to live.

But the artist accomplished many fantastic tasks and crossed many impressive milestones during his 57 years. He won seven Grammy awards, sold over 80 million albums worldwide, and produced 10 platinum albums with over 30 Top 40 hits. He also produced such mega hits as the wildly popular "Kiss," which has been featured in many films, including the animated Happy Feet.

So with such a strong musical legacy behind him, I wonder, did Prince leave behind any children? Apparently not. Prince was married to Mayte Garcia from 1996 to 1999, and the couple had a baby together. But, in an extremely sad circumstance, their son, Boy Gregory, who was born in 1996, died within a week of being born, according to E! Online. Their son allegedly suffered from a skeletal abnormality known as Pfeiffer's Syndrome.

The couple went on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Nov. 21, 1996 and offered a tour of their child's playroom, even though the baby, though Prince never confirmed this publicly, had died. According to a transcript of the episode, Oprah asked, "What is the status of your — your — your baby, your pregnancy, your..." Prince reportedly replied: "Well, our family exists" ... "We're just beginning it" ... "And we've got many kids to have, a long way to go."

Oprah's voiceover on the episode allegedly said: "And that's all The Artist and his wife choose to say at this time."

In June, 2015, Garcia told The Mirror that they went on Oprah to show resilience in the wake of their grief: "We had to show people that we were strong, that we had faith, and that we would try again."

According to the same interview, Garcia miscarried shortly after the loss of their first son. She told the publication:

To lose two babies is really scary... it really caught on me emotionally, physically, everything. It took me at least 15 years to get over it and still, to this day, I miss my son. I believe a child dying between a couple either makes you stronger or it doesn’t. For me, it was very, very hard to move forward and for us as a couple I think it probably broke us.

Prince never spoke of these tragedies publicly. However, before his child's birth, he said to the St. Paul Pioneer Press: “Whenever we give birth to our children, the world won’t know their names, their sex, anything. Our child has to make those decisions.”

It's clear that Prince wanted his personal life to remain private, which could offer another reason why he didn't tell Oprah of the tragedy that happened days prior.

In regards to Prince's death, Garcia told People via her manager: "I can't even think of the words of what I'm feeling. This man was my everything, we had a family. I am beyond deeply saddened and devastated. I loved him then, I love him now, and will love him eternally. He's with our son now."

In that 2015 interview with The Mirror, Garcia also spoke about her relationship and marriage with Prince in wake of his death. She said: "Our entire time together was amazing and surreal. I think I’m now screwed for life because my first relationship was the most bizarre relationship ever and I’m not normal any more. I’ve kind-of been spoiled and I guess I am kind-of screwed-up now."

Prince himself dealt with many painful losses during his life, and it is a very sad day for lovers of his music and for those who knew the man personally.

Editor's note: This post has been updated from its original version.