John Prine, country-folk music’s famous “everyman” and the first singer-songwriter to perform at the Library of Congress, died last night at the age of 73 after facing severe complications related to COVID-19, CNN reports.
Prine’s wife, Fiona, shared with NBC that she also had tested positive for the virus but had since recovered, Prine himself was hospitalized March 26 and remained in the ICU until his death on April 7.
The raspy-voiced singer was a two-time cancer survivor, four-time Grammy winner and member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame who inspired the art of many throughout his life, including Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan, the New York Times reports.
Prine was raised in Chicago and worked as a postal carrier until his musical career was launched by a Chicago Sun-Times review — written by Roger Ebert — of Prine singing at a bar, which dubbed him the “Singing Mailman” CNN reports.
After releasing his first album, “John Prine,” in 1971, Prine inspired covers from music icons like Johnny Cash, the Everly Brothers and Bette Middler, and even worked with Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty on his 1991 Grammy-winning album “The Missing Years,” Rolling Stone reports.
In 2018, songs from what would become the singer-songwriter’s last album, “The Tree of Forgiveness,” were featured by NPR Music in their famous “Tiny Desk Concert” series.
As recently as January of this year, Prine received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards, which featured a tribute performance of Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery” by Bonnie Raitt, Billboard reports. Even during a ceremony often devoted to hit pop artists, Prine’s songwriting talent shone.
Prine’s special ability to tell a story through song like no one else will certainly leave its mark on the world for decades to come. For now, it’s time for Prine’s classic “When I Get to Heaven” to tell the rest of his story — and remind his fans, friends and family that he’s still singing.