Prince's ex-wife Mayte Garcia says he is ‘with our son now'

Prince's former backing dancer released a statement overnight

Mayte Garcia and Prince (Getty Images)

Prince’s ex-wife Mayte Garcia has reacted with devastation after the singer was found dead in his Minnesota home.

Garcia met Prince in 1990 when she was a teenager and became one of his backing dancers. Garcia is widely believed to be the muse behind his song ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the World’.

Garcia and Prince married in 1996 and had a child together, Boy Gregory, who tragically died a week after he was born from the rare genetic disorder Pfeiffer syndrome, according to People. They divorced in 2000.

In a statement released on social media Garcia said: “He is with our son now”.

“This man was my everything, we had a family,” she wrote on Instagram. “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.”

Tributes and impromptu street parties sprang up across the US last night as the world said goodbye to Prince, who was found slumped in a lift in his Minnesota home. He was 57.

Emotional tributes from musicians poured in as soon as his death was announced, with Chaka Khan declaring her love for her ‘brother’. President Barack Obama said the world has “lost a creative icon” and Elton John praised him as he “greatest performer I have ever seen”.

The club where Prince filmed "Purple Rain" threw an all-night dance party to honour the singer and fans sang "Purple Rain" collectively in the street. The director Spike Lee held an impromptu street party from the front of his Brooklyn home with speakers blaring Prince hits as those gathered danced.

Carver County Sheriff said deputies responded to a medical call at Prince's home at about 9.45am on Thursday morning. They performed CPR but were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

His cause of death is still unexplained. A post-mortem is due to take place later today.