Prince's former drug dealer tells how he spent $40,000 at a time on six-month supplies of Dilaudid pills and Fentanyl patches - highly addictive opioid pain killers - for 25 years

dailymail.co.uk

Prince's former drug dealer has revealed the full extent of the late-star's secret drug addiction - telling how the superstar was hooked on powerful opiates for over 25 years.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Online, the performer's long-time dealer - who asked to be named only as Doctor D - revealed the singer would spend up to $40,000 a time on six-month supplies of Dilaudid pills and Fentanyl patches - both highly addictive opioid pain killers.

Prince, who was found dead on Thursday at his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was secretly cremated in an intimate ceremony at a nondescript funeral home in Minneapolis shortly after an autopsy was completed on Friday, Radar reports.

Prince's sister Tyka Nelson and another family member reportedly spent a few minutes saying goodbye at the First Memorial Waterston Chapel before the musician was cremated.

His death came just days after sources claimed he overdosed on the opiate Percocet.

Doctor D said the musician, who he described as 'majorly addicted', regularly bought drugs from him between 1984 and 2008. 

The dealer, often to the stars, said Prince suffered crippling stage fright and could not get on stage and perform without the drugs - but had a phobia of doctors so could not obtain a prescription legally.

Tragically, Doctor D suggests it could have been a physician that unknowingly contributed to Prince's death - by prescribing strong pain killers to the singer for his hip condition without knowing the extent of his secret opiate addiction.

He said: 'I first met Prince in 1984 while he was filming the movie Purple Rain and he was already majorly addicted to opiates - I didn't hook him on drugs he was already a really heavy user.

'In the beginning he would buy speed as well as Dilaudid.

'I would sell him black beauties which were a black pill and cross tops which were also speed pills.

'He would use that as a counter balance to get back up again from taking opiates.

'That lasted for a couple of years then he would just buy Dilaudid, which is a heroin based opiate. It is highly addictive.

'As far as I knew he never took heroin - as that would leave you out of it for days whereas Dilaudid gives you an energy buzz as well as making you feel relaxed - so he preferred it.

'He needed the drugs because he was so nervous - he could be nervous in a room with just five people in it.

'He was scared to go out in public, he was scared to talk to people and didn't like to go on stage - he had the worst case of stage fright I'd ever seen.

'A lot of performers rely on drugs to make them feel confident on stage but he was by far the worse...

Prince made several trips to a Walgreens pharmacy in the days before he died and was even photographed outside the store hours before he was pronounced dead.

It is not known whether he was picking up Percocet or any other prescription. And according to sources, Prince was treated by doctors for a Percocet overdose just six days before he died.

The 57-year-old's private plane had to make an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois, on April 15, so he could be rushed to hospital.

Doctors there had to administer a 'save shot' - an emergency injection usually administered in dire circumstances to drug overdose victims, TMZ reported.

An autopsy was conducted on Friday and Prince's body was released to his family. However, authorities said it could be weeks before the cause of death is released.  

Meanwhile, an expert on Saturday, said his death is likely to have been the result of a drug overdose.

Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathologist who is not linked to the case, told NBC's TODAY: 'I would give overwhelming odds that, tragically, this is a drug death.'