Prince's Most Extreme Diet Habit Revealed as Fans Get Set to Mark Rock Icon's 10th Death Anniversary

Prince lived by a set of rules as idiosyncratic as his sound – and OK! can reveal one of his most extreme habits – surviving on nothing but pancakes for days at a time – has resurfaced as fans prepare to mark the 10th anniversary of his death.

Jason Pomeranc, a hotelier who co-founded Thompson Hotel Group, has described in a new profile of the mercurial musician how he would descend unannounced on Los Angeles nightlife, commandeering stages and schedules alike unannounced.

"Prince would come in and just start playing a random solo show at Teddy's until four or five in the morning, just because he felt like it, right?" Pomeranc said.

"And these things were regular occurrences. If you weren't at the Prince pop-up show or you weren't (there) when Courtney Love showed up, it was gone. It was not on Instagram. I think that pushed people in L.A. to go out more."

Teddy's, the now-legendary nightclub inside the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, was also where Prince would often retreat to the penthouse afterward. It was there, Pomeranc said, the singer's extreme dietary routine became apparent.

He added: "Prince would stay up in the penthouse, which we had to redecorate to his specifications of white s--- rugs and purple. And he would only eat pancakes for days."

People who knew Prince told us the pint-sized pop icon's pancake fixation was not a quirky indulgence but part of a broader obsession with control and staying slim.

One former associate said: "The pancakes were just one of many strange routines. Prince was intensely disciplined about his body. He hated the idea of putting on weight and believed simplicity was the key."

Another source added: "He treated food like fuel, not pleasure. Eating the same thing over and over was his way of staying in charge – of his schedule, his health, his image."

Born Prince Rogers Nelson in Minneapolis, Prince died on April 21, 2016, at the age of 57, from an accidental fentanyl overdose at his Paisley Park home in Chanhassen, Minn.

His death stunned the music world and triggered years of reassessment of both his creative output and his private struggles.

During a career that began in the late 1970s, Prince released 39 albums and sold more than 100 million records worldwide. His genre-defying approach fused funk, rock, R&B, soul, pop, jazz, blues and hip-hop, influencing generations of musicians.

Prince's vault of unreleased material, stored beneath his cavernous, factory-like Paisley Park compound has since fueled a steady stream of posthumous releases curated by his estate.

The singer's cultural impact extended way beyond music.

In 1984, he starred in Purple Rain, the semi-autobiographical rock musical that cemented his status as a global icon. The film grossed close to $100 million worldwide and won the Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Its soundtrack – featuring "When Doves Cry, Let's Go Crazy" and "I Would Die 4 U" – dominated charts and awards, remaining at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 24 weeks.

He received seven Grammy Awards during his lifetime, along with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

As the 10th anniversary of his death approaches, stories like the pancake diet underline the contradictions that defined Prince – indulgent and austere, spontaneous and rigid.

One music industry insider said: "People remember the excess, the late nights, the performances until dawn. What they forget is how tightly controlled everything else was. Even something as simple as food became part of the myth."