BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Prince was found dead at his home on Thursday in suburban Minneapolis, according to his publicist. He was 57.

Sheriff's officials in Minnesota say deputies found the musician unresponsive in an elevator after they were summoned to his suburban Minneapolis compound. He was pronounced dead about half an hour later.

Today, songs like "Raspberry Beret" are the stuff the soundtrack of modern life is made of, but when Prince first hit the airwaves, you might say he was marching to his own beat.

"We wondered, 'What do we do with this guy? Is he a rock guy? Is he an R&B guy? Is he a soul performer?' And you couldn't pigeonhole Prince," said 97 Rock Midday Announcer John "JP" Piccillo.

Piccillo says the station saw an outpouring of shock from listeners as news of the musician's death spread Thursday. He says Prince was also the rare artist who was equally as masterful in the studio and on stage.

"I remember seeing him in 1984. He was promoting the 'Purple Rain' album," Piccillo said. "I had never seen anything like him before. It was just this magical person on stage."

One Buffalo record store owner says he's already had customers searching through his supplies, trying to see if they could get their hands on some old favorites.

"If you think of Prince, you think of, like, sexy, and you think of cool," said Philip Machamer, owner of Revolver Records on Hertel Avenue. "It's a bummer, even if you're not the biggest Prince fan in the world when you hear about someone like this passing."

Other musicians have also drawn inspiration from Prince, including the Goo Goo Dolls. They recorded a cover of his 1987 song, "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man."

"The late Lance Diamond and I were great friends, and I think what Prince did was sort of a bridge from his world of soul and R&B into our world of rock music," said Robby Takac, bassist for the Goo Goo Dolls.

Born Prince Rogers Nelson, the singer, songwriter, arranger, actor and instrumentalist, influenced by musicians like James Brown, the Beatles to Jimi Hendrix, is widely acclaimed as one of the most inventive musicians of his era.

Some of Prince's hits include, "Little Red Corvette," "When Doves Cry," and the soundtrack to "Purple Rain." Prince received the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for "Purple Rain."

Prince may be gone, but fans say that magic isn't. It lives on in his music, ready to inspire the next artist just waiting to make the music business scratch its head.