Manager of Prince's Mpls. nightspot in '90s is found dead in Minnetonka home

A onetime business associate of Prince's who ran the music star's downtown Minneapolis nightclub in the 1990s was found dead over the weekend in his Minnetonka home, his sister said Sunday.

Paul Pudlitzke, 48, was cold to the touch when emergency responders arrived at his house in the 5100 block of Woodhill Road about 8:30 a.m. Saturday, according to police dispatch communication.

The person who called authorities to the scene told law enforcement that Pudlitzke had been using illicit drugs the previous night, the dispatches noted.

Police have released only the sparest of information, saying Sunday morning that officers arrived to find a man not breathing and that he was dead in the home.

Pudlitzke's death comes nearly two months after Prince died at Paisley Park in Chanhassen from an accidental overdose of a potent opiate painkiller.

A real estate broker at the time of his death, Pudlitzke began working for Prince in 1990 managing food and drinks at Glam Slam in the Warehouse District. In less than two years, he was promoted to general manager, assigning him duties that included booking acts.

Musicians who came through Glam Slam during under Pudlitzke's four-year tenure at Glam Slam included B.B. King, Miles Davis and, of course, Prince. The Minneapolis nightspot became Quest after Prince's affiliation ended, and it's now home to a cowboy bar.

Pudlitzke's sister, Joy Hopkins, said Sunday that he loved working for Prince, even though "that lifestyle was very hard work, with so many hours. That's why he got into real estate. He loved being on the cutting edge of anything."

Hopkins said her 6-foot-6 brother had all kinds of Prince stories, with her favorite being that "whenever he would have his meetings, Paul would always have to be sitting down when Prince came into the room."

Soon after Prince died, Pudlitzke was profiled by the Belle Plaine Herald, the newspaper that serves the southwest Minneapolis suburb where he grew up.

"I'm a music lover," Pudlitzke said in that interview. "He was, to me, the best musician on earth. … He was an incredible perfectionist. There was no room for error."

Pudlitzke was a lifelong bachelor, "never lucky enough to find the right girl," said Hopkins, who last saw her brother about a month ago, when he visited her in the hospital during her cancer treatment. "He was a very generous person, loved to boat and loved being with his nieces and nephews."