When doves die: Prince's longtime pet Divinity passes at Paisley Park

Prince told us about what it sounds like when doves cry, now the Purple World is mourning the death of one of his beloved doves at Paisley Park.

Divinity, one of his two original doves, died peacefully Tuesday, Paisley Park announced. She was 28. The average life span of pet doves is 12 to 15 years, according to bechewy.com.

At Paisley Park, Divinity resided in a cage on the mezzanine in the atrium, the first stop on tours of Paisley Park. Her male companion, Majesty, died in January 2017.

Prince followers first became aware of his fascination with doves in the 1984 hit "When Doves Cry" from "Purple Rain." In the 1992 video for the song "Seven," Majesty had a cameo, sitting in the hands of Mayte Garcia, Prince's future wife, who kisses the bird on its head.

Perhaps the biggest artistic moment for Divinity and Majesty came on the 2002 piano tune "Arboretum," which Prince recorded in Paisley's atrium for a fan club-only album, "One Nite Alone." The doves received credits as "ambient singing: the doves DIVINITY AND MAJESTY."

When Prince died in 2016, the doves reportedly stopped cooing. After Paisley staffers started piping his music into the atrium, the doves became vocal again.

"Divinity's beautiful coo has welcomed visitors since Paisley Park first opened its gates to the public in October 2016," Alan Seiffert, Paisley executive director, said in a statement on Wednesday. "She was one of the enduring links to Prince for thousands of fans. She will be missed."

Paisley Park plans to replace Divinity with "a new generation of doves."

Twitter: @JonBream • 612-673-1719