Ray Roberts was the Last Person to see prince alive and then returns to Paisley Park to check to see if prince ate his dinner???
But what about the Smoothie Ray?
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Ray roberts interviews and the Carver county investigation.
Prince's death: His laptop, diet, weight loss and distress highlight intriguing police docs
Maria Puente, USA TODAY Published 5:53 p.m. ET April 20, 2018 | Updated 7:48 p.m. ET April 20, 2018
Once authorities in his home Carver County, Minn., announced Thursday that no charges would be filed against anyone in connection with Prince's April 21, 2016, death, all of the records of their inconclusive investigation became public and were posted online at the Carver County Sheriff's Office website.
There are pages and pages of transcripts of long interviews with various people in Prince's life, such as his young and new-on-the-job assistant Meron Bekure, his longtime best friend, bodyguard and Paisley Park estate manager, Kirk Johnson, and his personal chef, Ray Roberts.
There are voluminous police reports written in cop-speak and dense with details about every single thing cops said or did or photographed at Prince's Paisley Park home/studio compound on the day he was found dead in an elevator there.
Interview with Ray Roberts
Prince's personal chef since 2013, Roberts also owns a local restaurant, Peoples Organic, and provided Prince, a vegan, with a daily dinner of appetizer, entre and dessert, and stocked his fridge. The night before Prince's death, Roberts arrived with a meal: roasted pepper bisque, a salad and a smoothie. Roberts thought Prince didn't look good, which usually meant he wanted his privacy.
"Roberts stated that night Prince didn't seem good. Roberts stated Prince looked distressed. Roberts stated Prince looked like he wasn't feeling good," the transcript reads.
(In fact, the dinner didn't get eaten; Roberts said it was still in his refrigerator during Prince's memorial lunch later.)
Roberts said Prince's behavior was "up and down" and that the people around him talked about his health "a lot." Roberts noticed weight loss.
"Roberts stated he had noticed over the last month Prince had been losing weight. Roberts stated he felt like Prince was eating less and wasn't drinking any water," the transcript says.
Roberts told investigators that Prince would be "happy and energetic and then he would be sleeping or not feeling well," the transcript says. "Roberts stated Prince's health issue was related to stress from his work."
Roberts said his job was to make sure Prince was "eating right and drinking enough fluids." When Prince would report ailments (such as a sore throat) to Roberts, Roberts would prepare food accordingly.
Maria Puente, USA TODAY Published 5:53 p.m. ET April 20, 2018 | Updated 7:48 p.m. ET April 20, 2018
Once authorities in his home Carver County, Minn., announced Thursday that no charges would be filed against anyone in connection with Prince's April 21, 2016, death, all of the records of their inconclusive investigation became public and were posted online at the Carver County Sheriff's Office website.
There are pages and pages of transcripts of long interviews with various people in Prince's life, such as his young and new-on-the-job assistant Meron Bekure, his longtime best friend, bodyguard and Paisley Park estate manager, Kirk Johnson, and his personal chef, Ray Roberts.
There are voluminous police reports written in cop-speak and dense with details about every single thing cops said or did or photographed at Prince's Paisley Park home/studio compound on the day he was found dead in an elevator there.
Interview with Ray Roberts
Prince's personal chef since 2013, Roberts also owns a local restaurant, Peoples Organic, and provided Prince, a vegan, with a daily dinner of appetizer, entre and dessert, and stocked his fridge. The night before Prince's death, Roberts arrived with a meal: roasted pepper bisque, a salad and a smoothie. Roberts thought Prince didn't look good, which usually meant he wanted his privacy.
"Roberts stated that night Prince didn't seem good. Roberts stated Prince looked distressed. Roberts stated Prince looked like he wasn't feeling good," the transcript reads.
(In fact, the dinner didn't get eaten; Roberts said it was still in his refrigerator during Prince's memorial lunch later.)
Roberts said Prince's behavior was "up and down" and that the people around him talked about his health "a lot." Roberts noticed weight loss.
"Roberts stated he had noticed over the last month Prince had been losing weight. Roberts stated he felt like Prince was eating less and wasn't drinking any water," the transcript says.
Roberts told investigators that Prince would be "happy and energetic and then he would be sleeping or not feeling well," the transcript says. "Roberts stated Prince's health issue was related to stress from his work."
Roberts said his job was to make sure Prince was "eating right and drinking enough fluids." When Prince would report ailments (such as a sore throat) to Roberts, Roberts would prepare food accordingly.
Thursday, April 28, 2016 by Mecca Bos in Food & Drink
What Prince ate: An interview with Prince's personal chefs
The last meal Ray Roberts prepared for Prince was roasted red pepper bisque and a kale salad. When he entered Paisley Park that night, he was told he could just leave the meal and go.
"Whatever was going on with him that night, he clearly wanted to be alone," said Roberts. Typically, the artist was jovial and his home and recording studio was a joyful, light-filled, and fun place to be.
By the following morning, Roberts would discover that Prince never did eat that dinner. By now we all know why.
"He didn't seem like his normal self that night. He'd been like that for months."
Roberts and his wife, Juell, have been cooking and serving dinner, six nights a week, to Prince for the past three years.
If they had one message about what working for Prince was like it's that it was always joyful. "Prince was always funny. He had funny interactions. He was a breath of fresh air. All the people around there have so much joy and life. Everyone there believed in something bigger than themselves," the two declare in a stream of remembrance, alternately smiling and tearful.
They heard the news of his death like everyone else — in a Tweet from TMZ.
"I thought, well, he was the only person there last night, so it has to be him," says Roberts, though Juell was incredulous. It wasn't until they received confirmation from Prince's personal assistant a few hours later that they learned the tragic news was true. Like everyone else, they were in shock.
Was he a perfectionist? Yes. And that was just fine with Ray and Juell. "He didn't want anyone around him that was just stagnant because he wasn't stagnant. He wanted you to be better every day. He kept you on your toes— never in a bad way. Always in a good way."
Once, there was a smudge on the outside of a package in which he had left an overnight meal. When he arrived to work the next day, Prince was in the kitchen waiting. He pointed at the smudge, and simply gave Ray the two-fingers-to-the-eyes "I'm watching you" gesture.
It was one of only three times Ray got in trouble for anything. The other was for lateness, and once, for leaving a cake out of place.
"His personal refrigerator was organized like it was staged for a photo shoot."
"The last few months he had the flu or a cold, always. There was always something going on. He was off his game and needed to rest. I had to be careful about what I was serving him." Prince was more frequently requesting foods that would help him to feel better, or something easy for his throat, or foods that made him feel like he was being nourished.
And on the Monday before he died, he made an unusual request: a crudite plate with edamame hummus. "He ordered it like he was ordering something from a restaurant," which seemed odd to Ray — it was something Prince almost never did.
But they couldn't have ever guessed that a few months of being under the weather or unusual requests would end this way.
By Tribune news services Contact Reporter
May 1, 2016 11:08am Minneapolis
On stage, Prince was still captivating audiences at recent performances in Australia and California. He hosted a pop-up party at his Paisley Park studio, and there were few outward signs in his final months that anything was wrong.
But off stage, something was different. Prince began wanting meals that were easier to digest and was fighting off waves of sore throats and frequent upset stomachs, the musician's personal chef told The Associated Press.
"It felt like he wasn't himself probably the last month or two," Roberts said. "I think he was just struggling with being sick a lot."
Prince, who didn't eat meat, normally loved foods like roasted beets and minestrone soup with a harissa chermoula, an herb sauce from North Africa. In recent months, Roberts said, as Prince would have sore throats or seem like he wasn't feeling well for "weeks at a time," he would prefer smoothies and fresh juices to soothe his throat or stomach.
"He seemed fine. He looked normal and he had this kind of energetic glow that he always had," said Lars Larson, a Minneapolis man who often worked at Paisley Park for Prince's parties.
Even in private, Roberts said, Prince would soldier through and work. "It was amazing. I don't think I ever saw him really looking bad ever. He was always on point," he said.
Most of the time, Roberts would make light salads and soups — he said Prince particularly liked the roasted beets as well as a pesto broccolini dish. When Prince was gearing up for more shows and wanted to be more active, Roberts would scale back the sweets.
As for meat, there was none of it.
"I don't know if it was just an unwritten rule, but there was no meat there — ever," he said. "If somebody wanted to eat meat, they would have to eat it in the parking lot. And he was very serious about this."
Roberts saw Prince nearly every day. He cooked for him every day except Sunday — and sometimes even then. The musician would even bring Roberts and his wife on tour around the country at times to cook for him.
Roberts last saw Prince the evening before the musician was found dead at Paisley Park. He cooked Prince a roasted red pepper bisque with a kale and spring vegetable salad. But Prince never ate it. When he returned to the musician's studio home for his memorial service a few days later, Roberts found it in the refrigerator — just as he'd left it.
Associated Press
Associated Press
Mon 2 May 2016 01.33 EDT
Last modified on Fri 14 Jul 2017 15.30 EDT
Prince's last supper went untouched, says musician's personal chef
In the months leading to his death, Prince suffered from frequent sore throats and seemed to be losing weight, his personal chef has said.
Roberts said that recently Prince had started to request meals that were easier to digest, such as smoothies and fresh juices.
Roberts said in an interview that there was “not even a hint” that Prince was taking prescription drugs. But Roberts did start noticing changes in Prince’s diet – he was eating less and drinking less water, and looked like he was losing weight.
“It felt like he wasn’t himself probably the last month or two,” Roberts said. “I think he was just struggling with being sick a lot.”
Prince, who didn’t eat meat, normally loved foods like roasted beetroot and minestrone soup. In recent months, Roberts said, as Prince would have sore throats or seem like he wasn’t feeling well for “weeks at a time”, he would prefer smoothies and fresh juices to soothe his throat or stomach.
Roberts last saw Prince the evening before the musician was found dead at Paisley Park. He cooked Prince a roasted red pepper bisque with a kale and spring vegetable salad. But Prince never ate it. When he returned to the musician’s studio home for his memorial service a few days later, Roberts found it in the refrigerator – just as he’d left it.
Mon 2 May 2016 01.33 EDT
Last modified on Fri 14 Jul 2017 15.30 EDT
Prince's last supper went untouched, says musician's personal chef
In the months leading to his death, Prince suffered from frequent sore throats and seemed to be losing weight, his personal chef has said.
Roberts said that recently Prince had started to request meals that were easier to digest, such as smoothies and fresh juices.
Roberts said in an interview that there was “not even a hint” that Prince was taking prescription drugs. But Roberts did start noticing changes in Prince’s diet – he was eating less and drinking less water, and looked like he was losing weight.
“It felt like he wasn’t himself probably the last month or two,” Roberts said. “I think he was just struggling with being sick a lot.”
Prince, who didn’t eat meat, normally loved foods like roasted beetroot and minestrone soup. In recent months, Roberts said, as Prince would have sore throats or seem like he wasn’t feeling well for “weeks at a time”, he would prefer smoothies and fresh juices to soothe his throat or stomach.
Roberts last saw Prince the evening before the musician was found dead at Paisley Park. He cooked Prince a roasted red pepper bisque with a kale and spring vegetable salad. But Prince never ate it. When he returned to the musician’s studio home for his memorial service a few days later, Roberts found it in the refrigerator – just as he’d left it.
" I have never seen Pineapple in Paisley park." Juell roberts
