Gene Simmons: 'Sorry for calling Prince's death pathetic'

Rocker Gene Simmons has apologised for calling Prince's death 'pathetic'.

Prince was found dead at the age of 57 at his Paisley Park home in Minnesota last month (Apr16). A cause of death is yet to be established, although police officers have indicated they are investigating the possibility the Purple Rain singer died due to an overdose of prescription drugs.

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, the KISS frontman, 66, latched on to reports alleging Prince had overdosed on drugs, saying, "How pathetic that he (Prince) killed himself. Don't kid yourself, that's what he did. Slowly, I'll grant you... but that's what drugs and alcohol is: a slow death."

However after a backlash from fans, criticism from KISS bandmate Paul Stanley, and the advice of his family, the Detroit Rock City singer took to Twitter to make a full apology.

"I got such s**t from my family for my big mouth again," he wrote. "I apologise. I have a long history of getting very angry at what drugs do to the families/friends of the addicts.

"I was raised in a culture where addicts were written off as losers and it's been hard to change with the times. Needless to say, I didn't express myself properly here."

The rocker acknowledged his comments had been wrong, adding, "If I think I'm right, I'll throw up a finger and dig my heels in and laugh. But this time I was not. So, my apologies."

Despite his insensitive comments about the late musician's death, Gene took the time to praise the singer's musical legacy in the Newsweek interview, saying, "I think Prince was heads, hands and feet above all the rest of them. I thought he left (Michael) Jackson in the dust. Prince was way beyond that."

The investigation into Prince's death is still ongoing, with officers from the Minnesota Police Department obtaining a search warrant to investigate the medical centre where Prince's physician Dr. Michael Todd Schulenberg formerly practiced.

According to TMZ, the warrant shows Dr. Schulenberg told cops he treated Prince twice in April and saw the star the day before he died.