RIP

Muhammad Ali has died in a Phoenix-area hospital where he was battling respiratory issues ... according to a family spokesman.

The legendary boxer and humanitarian was 74 years old. He had checked into the hospital on Thursday and reps said he was in fair condition, but on Friday his health worsened throughout the day.

The family says his funeral will be held in Ali's hometown of Louisville, although the spokesman didn't specify a date. NBC News first reported his death.

Ali will be remembered as one of the most recognized figures worldwide -- after winning boxing's heavyweight title 3 different times ... with the first coming in a KO of Sonny Liston in 1964.

He was as famous for his boxing matches -- the "Rumble in the Jungle," the "Thrilla in Manila" -- as quotes like, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

Ali, born Cassius Clay, changed his name and converted to Islam in 1964. He also famously refused to enter the Vietnam War in 1967 as a conscientious objector.

Although he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1984 ... Ali remained very active at international events in and out of the sporting world. His lighting of the Olympic flame at the 1996 Atlanta games is considered one of the most iconic images in Olympic history.

The champ is survived by his wife Yolanda Williams and 9 children -- 7 daughters, 2 sons -- including Laila Ali, who became an undefeated boxing champ herself.

When he retired in 1981, Ali had 56 wins, 5 losses and 37 knockouts.

He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990 ... and will always hold the title of "The Greatest."

The clothes Prince died in match the outfit he was wearing the night before when he made that frantic run to a Walgreens pharmacy ... and the drugstore run could prove crucial in the investigation.

The Medical Examiner's report describes the clothes Prince was wearing when his body was found -- a black cap, a black shirt, a grey undershirt, black pants, black boxer briefs and black socks.

You can see from the photo TMZ posted -- taken at 7 PM the night before he died -- everything visible matches that description.

As we reported, Prince was at Walgreens to fill a prescription and eyewitnesses told us he was pacing and nervous as someone went inside and got the Rx.

TMZ also broke the story, a Walgreens was targeted by investigators and a search warrant was executed at the location.

The ME concluded Prince died from toxic level of Fentanyl.

Bobby Brown lost it while describing the moment he decided to turn off Bobbi Kristina's life support.

Brown sat down with ABC's Robin Roberts to talk not only about his daughter's death, but also his ex-wife Whitney Houston.

The singer covers a lot of ground -- including the first time Bobby saw Whitney do drugs, and how addiction affected their marriage and his finances. The interview airs next week on "20/20."

Andrew Kornfeld, the man who called 911 when Prince died, firmly believes he could have saved the singer with the backpack full of opioids he had at Paisley Park that morning.

The ME's report revelation that Prince died from a self-administered dose of Fentanyl ... seems to acquit Kornfeld and his father, Dr. Howard Kornfeld, of any involvement in the death. Andrew was delivering an opioid called Buprenorphine to treat Prince's addiction to Percocet. He insists Prince never took the drug.

Now Kornfeld is singing the praises of the synthetic opiate, saying it should be more accessible to addiction patients everywhere. Kornfeld tells CNN, he believes part of Prince's problem was that Buprenorphine is very difficult to get in Minnesota.

TMZ has obtained Prince's

... which lists, among many other things, his official time of death as 10:07 AM on April 21.

That detail is a little misleading -- that's the time he was pronounced dead by paramedics on scene at Paisley Park. It's not the time he actually died ... since it's possible the singer had passed away long before authorities arrived.

Prince's death has triggered a criminal investigation over how the singer got the opioid that killed him ... and our sources say it's more complicated than a simple prescription.

Sources connected with the investigation tell us they have known "for a long time" that Fentanyl -- an incredibly potent opioid up to 100 times more powerful than morphine -- was the cause of death.

Law enforcement sources tell us the investigation has focused on the "illicit" possession of the drug.

One law enforcement source would not confirm the basis of the investigation, but mentioned one trigger for a criminal probe would be if a doctor prescribed meds to a third party knowing the drug was going to someone else. We don't know if Rx bottles in someone else's name were found at Prince's home at the time of death.

We're told both state and federal prosecutors are investigating both how Prince got the drug and who facilitated it.

As we reported, authorities already obtained a search warrant for Prince's primary physician. They also executed a search at a Walgreen's pharmacy that filled a prescription for the singer. We don't know if authorities found a connection between the doctor, the pharmacy and the Fentanyl that killed Prince.

Prince died from an opioid overdose ... it's now official from the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office, and the drug is even more powerful than Percocet.

The M.E. performed toxicology tests on the singer and determined the singer died of an accidental overdose of Fentanyl -- a powerful synthetic opiate that is more potent than morphine ... often used for cancer patients to deal with severe pain.

Fentanyl is often used to treat people who have developed a tolerance to less powerful opiates such as Percocet and morphine.

And this is important ... there were several reports Prince had either AIDS or HIV, but the report says there were no "other significant conditions" that led to his death ... clearly refuting the stories.

According to the report ... Prince was discovered fully dressed ... wearing a black cap, black shirt, gray undershirt, black pants, black boxer briefs and black socks.

Also interesting ... Prince weighed a petite 112 lbs and stood 5'3" at the time of his death.

We broke numerous stories -- Prince was addicted to Percocet. As we first reported, Prince's private jet was forced to make an emergency landing when the singer almost died after ODing on Percocet 6 days before he was found dead in an elevator.

Prince had made at least 4 trips to a local drugstore in the week preceding his death ... to fill prescriptions.

His addiction was so bad his people called a rehab doctor in California to get him emergency help. The doctor's son flew out to Minnesota and was in the Paisley Park compound -- with a backpack filled with synthetic opioids -- when the 57-year-old singer was found dead. The doctor's son, who is not himself a doctor, denies giving Prince any of the pills.

Ex-NFL lineman Will Smith was reportedly driving with a blood alcohol level 3 times the legal limit when he was shot and killed last month in New Orleans.

The Times-Picayune says Smith's BAC was 0.24 the night he was shot to death ... according to its sources.

Smith was fatally gunned down and his wife, Racquel, was shot in both legs following a road rage argument with Cardell Hayes. The couple had been on their way home from dinner when they got into a fender bender with Hayes, who says he shot Smith in self-defense.

Mally Mall is pissed Clark County tweeted a pic of his dead exotic cat with laughing emojis ... mocking the tragic situation.

TMZ broke the story ... the rapper/producer lost his pet caracal, Nyla, Thursday in a house fire. Shortly after the fire, the Clark County official Twitter page posted a pic of the dead cat. But that's not all ... the tweet included the "laughing so hard you cry" emoji.

The county deleted the tweet within minutes and apologized for using the "wrong emojis." It appears they intended to use the "crying" emoji.

Still, we're told Mally's furious and says it's totally insensitive and an invasion of his privacy. It's still unclear what started the blaze.

Mally Mall just lost one of his most beloved exotic animals in a house fire.

Sources close to the producer tell TMZ one of his exotic cats was found unresponsive Thursday after crews contained the blaze. We're told a neighbor called 911 after they saw flames coming from his two-story Vegas home.

A neighbor tells us the fire started in a closet near his master bedroom. At this time it's unclear what started the blaze and how much damage was done.

We're told the producer is devastated over losing the animal.

Mally's known as an animal collector -- with pit bulls, snakes, turtles and wild cats -- he once gifted Justin Bieber a monkey.

Nick Menza's onstage death had nothing to do with drugs, it was a massive heart attack ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us autopsy results revealed heart disease in the 51-year-old, and also confirmed a working theory -- that this was not your stereotypical drug-related death. Officials searched the scene and interviewed people close to the former Megadeth drummer -- who died onstage Saturday -- and concluded Menza had no recent history of drug use.

Sources close to Nick say he had dabbled -- like many rock stars -- but we're told he'd been completely sober for 8 years.

BMX legend Dave Mirra suffered from brain disease before dying of a self inflicted gunshot wound ... according to reports.

Mirra's family donated his brain to a neuropathologist shortly after his death in February. Reports say a doctor determined Mirra's brain showed signs of CTE -- a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated head injuries.

CTE has been linked to dementia, depression and aggression to name a few.

Scores of pro football players have suffered from CTE -- Mirra is the first extreme sports athlete to be diagnosed with the disease.

Former Megadeth drummer Nick Menza went out exactly the way he wanted -- playing drums onstage in front of his fans.

Menza's rep, Robert Bolger, tells us his passing is tragic for sure ... but his friends and family take comfort in the fact that he had said on several occasions when he died he wanted to do so onstage.

Menza had death on his mind last year after Motorhead singer Lemmy Kilmister died. Menza talked about the string of musicians who'd died that year and started talking about his own death.

Nick Menza collapsed during his band's set Saturday at The Baked Potato jazz club in Studio City.

Celine Dion is not only a singer ... she's an official administrator of a vast estate.

We've obtained legal docs that make Celine the official administrator of her late husband Rene Angelil's estate, along with 2 others.

The docs reveal Rene left a will, and he was generous to his children, including kids from a prior marriage.

Rene left homes to 2 of his kids from his first marriage ... it looks like both homes are in Canada.

Celine and Rene have 2 vast estates, both of which are up for sale ... a $45 million Florida estate and a $25 million Quebec castle. The will says once the properties are sold, $9 million will go to a trust ... presumably for their 3 children. BTW ... there are other properties as well, which Celine retains.

Celine also gets all the furniture, cars, clothing, jewelry and personal effects. Most of his money goes into a trust ... which typically would provide for the surviving spouse and children.

And one amusing thing ... probate was opened in Nevada. Celine, who's one of the nicest people in show biz, had to declare she's not a felon.

Alan Young, the actor who played Wilbur on "Mister Ed" ... has died.

The character, whom the horse, of course, of course, called "Wilburrrrrrrrrr" ... became one of the most popular on TV from 1961 - 1965.

As you know, Mr. Ed would only speak to Wilbur, and they kept their secret throughout the run of the series. As you know, no one can talk to a horse, of course, that is, of course, unless the horse is the famous Mr. Ed.

There was a famous scene during the run when Ed took batting practice against legendary Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax and actually hit the ball. Wilbur screamed, "Slide, Ed, slide." Ed obliged.

Young was also the voice of Scrooge McDuck from "DuckTales."

Alan was 96.

Mini Kim Kardashian died of chronic alcohol abuse ... according to the Clark County coroner.

The coroner also confirmed there was no evidence of foul play in Kim Tripp's death.

TMZ broke the story ... Kim's BF Mini Kanye West discovered her body on the front porch of her Vegas apartment back in March. Kim became famous as Mini Kim K at Beacher's Madhouse in Vegas and Hollywood.

She was 32.