John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of
country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He was known for an often humorous style of original music that has elements of
protest
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...
and social commentary.
Born and raised in
Maywood, Illinois
Maywood is a village in Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded on April 6, 1869, and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 23,512 at the 2020 United States Census.
Histor ...
, Prine learned to play the guitar at age 14. He attended classes at Chicago's
Old Town School of Folk Music. After serving in
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...
with the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
, he returned to Chicago in the late 1960s, where he worked as a mailman, writing and singing songs first as a hobby and then as a club performer.
A member of Chicago's
folk revival, a laudatory review by critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
built Prine's popularity. Singer-songwriter
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are " Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", " Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the ...
heard Prine at
Steve Goodman
Steven Benjamin Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter from Chicago. He wrote the song "City of New Orleans", which was recorded by Arlo Guthrie and many others including John Denv ...
's insistence, and Kristofferson invited Prine to be his opening act, leading to Prine's
eponymous debut album with
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...
in 1971. The acclaim Prine earned from his first LP led to three more albums for Atlantic. He then recorded three albums with
Asylum Records
Asylum Records is an American record label, founded in 1971 by David Geffen and partner Elliot Roberts. It was taken over by Warner Communications (now the Warner Music Group) in 1972, and later merged with Elektra Records to become Elektra/Asylu ...
. In 1981, he co-founded
Oh Boy Records
Oh Boy Records is an independent American record label founded in 1981 by singer John Prine, his manager Al Bunetta, and their friend Dan Einstein. The label has released more than 40 audio and video recordings by singer-songwriters Prine, Kri ...
, an independent label where he released most of his subsequent albums.
Widely cited as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation, Prine was known for humorous lyrics about love, life, and current events, as well as serious songs with social commentary and songs that recollect sometimes melancholy tales from his life. According to
Nobel laureate
The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make o ...
songwriter
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
, "Prine's stuff is pure
Proustian existentialism
Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and val ...
.
Midwestern
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. ...
mindtrips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs. . . . All that stuff about '
Sam Stone
Sam Stone is the horror and fantasy pen name for British Thriller novellist and screenwriter Samantha Lee Howe. She is best known for her ''USA Today!'' best selling novel ''The Stranger In Our Bed'' published by HarperCollins imprint One Mor ...
', the soldier junkie daddy, and 'Donald and Lydia', where people make love from ten miles away. Nobody but Prine could write like that."
In 2020, Prine received the
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is a special Grammy Award that is awarded by The Recording Academy
The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of ...
.
Early life
Prine was the son of William Mason Prine, a
tool-and-die maker, and Verna Valentine (Hamm), a homemaker, both originally from
Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. He was born and raised in the Chicago suburb of Maywood.
In summers, they would go back to visit family near
Paradise, Kentucky. Prine started playing guitar at age 14, taught by his brother, David. He attended classes at Chicago's
Old Town School of Folk Music, and graduated from
Proviso East High School in
Maywood, Illinois
Maywood is a village in Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States in the Chicago metropolitan area. It was founded on April 6, 1869, and organized October 22, 1881. The population was 23,512 at the 2020 United States Census.
Histor ...
. He was a
U.S. Postal Service mailman for five years and was drafted into the United States Army during the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
era, serving as a vehicle mechanic in West Germany before beginning his musical career in Chicago.
Chicago folk scene
In the late 1960s, while Prine was delivering mail, he began to sing his songs (often first written in his head on the mail route) at
open-microphone evenings at the Fifth Peg on
Armitage Avenue in Chicago. The bar was a gathering spot for nearby
Old Town School of Folk Music teachers and students. Prine was initially a spectator, reluctant to perform, but eventually did so in response to a "You think you can do better?" comment made to him by another performer.
After his first open mic, he was offered paying gigs. In 1970, ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...
'' movie critic
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
heard him by chance at the Fifth Peg and wrote the first review Prine ever received, calling him a great songwriter:
[ After the review was published, Prine's popularity grew. He became a central figure in the Chicago folk revival, which also included such singer-songwriters as ]Steve Goodman
Steven Benjamin Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter from Chicago. He wrote the song "City of New Orleans", which was recorded by Arlo Guthrie and many others including John Denv ...
, Michael Peter Smith, Bonnie Koloc
Bonnie Koloc (born February 6, 1946) is an American folk music singer-songwriter, actress and artist. She was considered one of the three main Illinois-based folk singers in the 1970s, along with Steve Goodman and John Prine forming the "trinity ...
, Jim Post
Jimmie David Post (October 28, 1939 – September 14, 2022) was an American folk singer-songwriter, composer, playwright and actor. In 1968 his pop song " Reach out of the Darkness" charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for 14 weeks, peaking ...
, Tom Dundee
Tom Dundee (1946–2006) was a singer/songwriter born in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
He began his career in Corrales, New Mexico in 1969. A year later he became a principal member of the Chicago folk scene that spawned such performers as ...
, Anne Hills
Anne Hills (born October 18, 1953) is an American folk singer-songwriter.
Hills was born to a family of missionaries in Moradabad, India, and grew up in Michigan, United States. She studied at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, where she pl ...
, and Fred Holstein. Joined by such established musicians as Jethro Burns and Bob Gibson
Robert Gibson (born Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935October 2, 2020) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals (1959–1975). Nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot" ...
, Prine performed frequently at a variety of Chicago clubs. He was offered a one-album deal of covers and with a few of his original songs, by Bob Koester from Delmark Records, but decided the project was not right for him.[
In 1971, Prine was playing regularly at the Earl of Old Town. Steve Goodman, who was performing with ]Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are " Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", " Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the ...
at another Chicago club, persuaded Kristofferson to go see Prine late one night. Kristofferson later recalled, "By the end of the first line we knew we were hearing something else. It must’ve been like stumbling onto Dylan when he first busted onto the Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...
scene."
Recording career
1970s
Prine's self-titled debut album was released in 1971. Kristofferson (who once remarked that Prine wrote songs so good that "we'll have to break his thumbs") invited Prine and Goodman to open for him at The Bitter End
The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub, coffeehouse and folk music venue in New York City's Greenwich Village. It opened in 1961 at 147 Bleecker Street under the auspices of owner Fred Weintraub. The club changed its name to ''The Ot ...
in New York City. In the audience was Jerry Wexler
Jerry may refer to:
Animals
* Jerry (Grand National winner), racehorse, winner of the 1840 Grand National
* Jerry (St Leger winner), racehorse, winner of 1824 St Leger Stakes
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Jerry'' (film), a 2006 Indian fil ...
, who signed Prine to Atlantic Records
Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...
the next day. The album included Prine's signature songs "Illegal Smile" and "Sam Stone
Sam Stone is the horror and fantasy pen name for British Thriller novellist and screenwriter Samantha Lee Howe. She is best known for her ''USA Today!'' best selling novel ''The Stranger In Our Bed'' published by HarperCollins imprint One Mor ...
", and songs that became folk and country standards, " Angel from Montgomery" and "Paradise
In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in para ...
." The album also featured "Hello in There", a song about aging that was later covered by numerous artists, and "Far From Me", a lonely waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...
about lost love for a waitress, which Prine later said was his favorite of all his songs. The album received many positive reviews, and some hailed Prine as "the next Dylan". Bob Dylan himself appeared unannounced at one of Prine's first New York City club appearances, anonymously backing him on harmonica.
Prine's second album, '' Diamonds in the Rough'' (1972), was a surprise for many after the critical success of his first LP; it was an uncommercial, stripped-down affair that reflected Prine's fondness for bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Like mainstream country music, it la ...
and features songs reminiscent of Hank Williams
Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...
. Highlights of the compilation include the allegorical " The Great Compromise", which includes a recitation and addresses the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
, and the ballad "Souvenirs", which Prine later recorded with Goodman.
His subsequent albums from the 1970s include '' Sweet Revenge'' (1973), containing such fan favorites as "Dear Abby", "Grandpa Was a Carpenter", and "Christmas in Prison", and ''Common Sense'' (1975), with "Come Back to Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard". The latter album was Prine's first to chart on the U.S.
Top 100 by ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...
'' and reflected his growing commercial success. It was produced by Steve Cropper. '' Bruised Orange'' from 1978 is a Steve Goodman–produced album that gave listeners songs such as "That's The Way That The World Goes 'Round", "Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone", "Fish and Whistle", and the title track.
In 1974, singer David Allan Coe
David Allan Coe (born September 6, 1939) is an American singer and songwriter. Coe took up music after spending much of his early life in reform schools and prisons, and first became notable for busking in Nashville. He initially played mostly i ...
achieved considerable success on the country charts with " You Never Even Called Me by My Name", co-written by Prine and Goodman. The song good-naturedly spoofs stereotypical country music lyrics to create what it self-describes as "the perfect country and western song". Prine refused to take a songwriter's credit (stating he was too drunk when the song was written to remember what he had contributed) and Goodman received sole credit. Goodman bought Prine a jukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to sele ...
as a gift from his publishing royalties.
In 1975, Prine toured the U.S. and Canada with a full band featuring guitarist Arlen Roth.
The 1979 album '' Pink Cadillac'' features two songs produced by Sun Records
Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny ...
founder Sam Phillips
Samuel Cornelius Phillips (January 5, 1923 – July 30, 2003) was an American record producer. He was the founder of Sun Records and Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where he produced recordings by Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, ...
, who by this time rarely did any studio work. The song "Saigon" is about a Vietnam veteran
A Vietnam veteran is a person who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War.
The term has been used to describe veterans who served in the armed forces of South Vietnam, the United States Armed Forces, and ot ...
traumatized by the war ("The static in my attic's gettin' ready to blow"). During the recording, one of the guitar amplifiers blew up (which is evident on the album). The other song Phillips produced is "How Lucky", about Prine's hometown.
1980s
In 1981, rejecting the established model of the recording industry, which Prine felt exploited singers and songwriters, he co-founded the independent record label Oh Boy Records
Oh Boy Records is an independent American record label founded in 1981 by singer John Prine, his manager Al Bunetta, and their friend Dan Einstein. The label has released more than 40 audio and video recordings by singer-songwriters Prine, Kri ...
in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...
. His fans, supporting the project, sent him enough money to cover the costs, in advance, of his next album. Prine continued writing and recording albums throughout the 1980s. His songs continued to be covered by other artists; the country supergroup The Highwaymen recorded "The 20th Century Is Almost Over", which had been written by Prine and Goodman. Steve Goodman died of leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
in 1984 and Prine contributed four tracks to ''A Tribute to Steve Goodman'', including a cover version of Goodman's "My Old Man".
1990s
In 1991, Prine released the Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
-winning ''The Missing Years'', his first collaboration with producer and Heartbreakers bassist Howie Epstein. The title song records Prine's humorous take on what Jesus did in the unrecorded years between his childhood and ministry. In 1995, '' Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings'' was released, another collaboration with Epstein. On this album is the long track "Lake Marie", a partly spoken word song interweaving tales over decades centered on themes of "goodbye". Bob Dylan later cited it as perhaps his favorite Prine song.[ Prine followed it up in 1999 with '' In Spite of Ourselves'', which was unusual for him in that it contained only one original song (the title track); the rest were covers of classic country songs. All of the tracks are duets with well-known female country vocalists, including ]Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...
, Emmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, includin ...
, Patty Loveless
Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...
, Dolores Keane, Trisha Yearwood
Patricia Lynn Yearwood (born September 19, 1964) is an American singer, actress, author and television personality. She rose to fame with her 1991 debut single " She's in Love with the Boy," which became a number one hit on the ''Billboard'' c ...
, and Iris DeMent
Iris Luella DeMent (born January 5, 1961) is an American two-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and musician . DeMent's musical style includes elements of folk, country and gospel.
Early life
DeMent was born in Paragould, Arkansas, the 14 ...
.
2000s
In 2001, Prine appeared in a supporting role in the Billy Bob Thornton
Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker and musician. He had his first break when he co-wrote and starred in the 1992 thriller ''One False Move'', and received international attention after writing, directing, a ...
movie '' Daddy & Them.'' "In Spite of Ourselves" is played during the end credits.
Prine recorded a version of Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inc ...
's " My Old Kentucky Home" in 2004 for the compilation album ''Beautiful Dreamer
"Beautiful Dreamer" is a parlor song by American songwriter Stephen Foster. It was published posthumously in March 1864, by Wm. A. Pond & Co. of New York. The first edition states on its title page that it is "the last song ever written by Steph ...
'', which won the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album in 2004.
In 2005, Prine released his first all-new offering since ''Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings'', the album '' Fair & Square'', which tended toward a more laid-back, acoustic approach. The album contains songs such as "Safety Joe", about a man who has never taken any risks in his life, and also "Some Humans Ain't Human", Prine's protest piece on the album, which talks about the ugly side of human nature
Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...
and includes a quick shot at President George W. Bush. ''Fair & Square'' won the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. The album contains original songs plus two covers: A.P. Carter
Alvin Pleasant Delaney Carter (December 15, 1891 – November 7, 1960) was an American musician and founding member of The Carter Family, one of the most notable acts in the history of country music.
Biography
Life
A.P. Carter was born to Robe ...
's "Bear Creek Blues" and Blaze Foley
Michael David Fuller (December 18, 1949 – February 1, 1989), better known by his stage name Blaze Foley, was an American country music singer-songwriter, poet, and artist active in Austin, Texas.
Background
Foley was born Michael David Fuller ...
's "Clay Pigeons".
2010s
On June 22, 2010, Oh Boy Records released a tribute album titled '' Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine.'' The album features members of the modern folk revival including My Morning Jacket
My Morning Jacket is an American rock band formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Jim James, bassist Tom Blankenship, drummer Patrick Hallahan, guitarist Carl Broemel, and keyboardist Bo Koster. The ...
, The Avett Brothers
The Avett Brothers are an American folk rock band from Concord, North Carolina. The band is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett (banjo, lead vocals, guitar, piano, kick-drum) and Seth Avett (guitar, lead vocals, piano, hi-hat) along with Bob C ...
, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band is the name taken by Conor Oberst and his backing band. The band is composed of Nik Freitas (guitar), Taylor Hollingsworth (guitar), Macey Taylor (bass), Nate Walcott (keyboards/organ) and Jason Boesel ...
, Old Crow Medicine Show
Old Crow Medicine Show is an Americana string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, that has been recording since 1998. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on September 17, 2013. Their ninth album, '' Remedy'', released in 2014, won the ...
, Lambchop, Josh Ritter, Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members ( Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alab ...
, Nickel Creek's Sara Watkins, Deer Tick featuring Liz Isenberg, Justin Townes Earle, Those Darlins
Those Darlins was a rock and roll band from Nashville, Tennessee, active between 2006 and 2016. The group has released three albums, their alt-country-leaning self-titled debut ''Those Darlins'' in 2009, the garage rock influenced ''Screws Get L ...
, and Bon Iver
Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon.
Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, ''For Emma, Forever Ago,'' independently in July 2007. The majority of the album was recorded while Vernon ...
's Justin Vernon.
In 2016, Prine was named winner of the PEN/Song Lyrics Award, given to two songwriters every other year by the PEN
A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...
New England chapter. The 2016 award was shared with Tom Waits
Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on the underbelly of society and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He worked primarily in jazz during ...
and his songwriting collaborator wife Kathleen Brennan
Kathleen Patricia Brennan (born 1955) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and artist. She is known for her work as a co-writer, producer, and influence on the work of her husband Tom Waits.
Biography
Brennan was born in Cork, ...
. Judges for the award included Peter Wolf
Peter Wolf (born March 7, 1946) is an American musician best known as the lead vocalist of the J. Geils Band from 1967 to 1983 and as a solo artist.
Early life and education
Peter Wolf was born Peter Walter Blankfield on March 7, 1946 in The ...
, Rosanne Cash
Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and Vivian Liberto Cash Distin, Johnny Cash's first wife. Although she is often classified as a country art ...
, Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...
, Elvis Costello
Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...
, and Bono
Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2.
Born and raised in Dublin, he attended ...
, as well as literary judges Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...
, Natasha Tretheway, and Paul Muldoon
Paul Muldoon (born 20 June 1951) is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he is currently both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University P ...
. In 2016, Prine released ''For Better, or Worse
''For Better, or Worse'' is the seventeenth studio album by John Prine. It consists of tracks in which Prine teams with an all-star array of female singers to tackle carefully chosen vintage country tunes in duets. The album was also released in ...
'', a follow-up to ''In Spite of Ourselves'' from 1999. The album features country music covers spotlighting some of the most prominent female voices in the genre, including; Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass- country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, competing in local contests by the age of 8 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed wit ...
, Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Texa ...
, and Lee Ann Womack, as well as Iris DeMent, the only guest artist to appear on both compilation albums.
On March 15, 2017, the American Currents exhibit opened at the Country Music Hall of Fame
The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the world's largest museums and research centers dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of American vernacular music. Chartered in 1964, the museum has ama ...
. The exhibit featured a pair of cowboy boots
Cowboy boots are a specific style of riding boot, historically worn by cowboys. They have a high heel that is traditionally made of stacked leather, rounded to pointed toe, high shaft, and, traditionally, no lacing. Cowboy boots are normally ...
and jacket that Prine often wore on stage, his personal guitar, and the original handwritten lyric to his hit, "Angel From Montgomery". The American Currents Class of 2016 showcased artists who made a significant impact on country music in 2016, including, Prine. Prine won his second Artist of the Year award at the 2017 Americana Music Honors & Awards
The Americana Music Honors & Awards is the marquee event for the Americana Music Association. Beginning in 2002, the Americana Music Association honors distinguished members of the music community. Six member-voted awards and several Lifetime Ac ...
after previously winning in 2005.
On February 8, 2018, Prine announced his first new album of original material in 13 years, titled ''The Tree of Forgiveness
''The Tree of Forgiveness'' is the eighteenth and final studio album by American country folk singer John Prine. The album was released on April 13, 2018. It is the last album released by Prine before his death on April 7, 2020.
Background
The al ...
'', would be released on April 13. Produced by Dave Cobb, the album was released on Prine's own Oh Boy Records and features guest artists Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires
Amanda Rose Shires (born March 5, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and fiddle player. Shires has released seven solo albums starting in 2005, her most recent being '' Take It Like a Man'' in 2022. In 2019, she founded a country music super ...
, Dan Auerbach
Daniel Quine Auerbach (; born May 14, 1979) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer, best known as the guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. As a member of the group, Auerbach has ...
, and Brandi Carlile
Brandi Marie Carlile ( ; born June 1, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and producer whose music spans many genres, including folk rock, alternative country, Americana, and classic rock. , Carlile has released seven studio albums. She has ...
. Alongside the announcement, Prine released the track "Summer's End". The album became Prine's highest-charting album on the ''Billboard'' 200.
In 2019, he recorded several tracks including "Please Let Me Go 'Round Again"—a song which warmly confronts the end of life—with longtime friend and compatriot Swamp Dogg in his final recording session.
Posthumous releases
The last song Prine recorded before he died was "I Remember Everything", released on June 12, 2020, alongside a music video. It was released following the two-hour special tribute show, ''A Tribute Celebrating John Prine'' aired on June 11, 2020, which featured Sturgill Simpson, Vince Gill
Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...
, Jason Isbell, Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Texa ...
, Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...
, Rita Wilson
Rita Wilson (born Margarita Ibrahimoff; October 26, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and producer. Her film appearances include ''Volunteers'' (1985), '' Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993), '' Now and Then'' (1995), ''That Thing You Do!'' (1996) ...
, Eric Church
Kenneth Eric Church (born May 3, 1977) is an American country music singer-songwriter. He has released nine studio albums through Capitol Nashville since 2005. His debut album, 2006's '' Sinners Like Me'', produced three singles on the ''Billboar ...
, Brandi Carlile
Brandi Marie Carlile ( ; born June 1, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and producer whose music spans many genres, including folk rock, alternative country, Americana, and classic rock. , Carlile has released seven studio albums. She has ...
and many other country artists and friends. On the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention
The 2020 Democratic National Convention was a presidential nominating convention that was held from August 17 to 20, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and virtually across the United States. At the convention, delegates of ...
, Prine singing "I Remember Everything" was the soundtrack to the COVID-19 memorial video.
Personal life
Prine was married three times. His first marriage was to high-school sweetheart Ann Carole in 1966. The marriage lasted until the late 1970s. Prine was married to bassist Rachel Peer from 1984 to 1988. Prine met Fiona Whelan, who later became his manager, in 1988. She moved from Ireland to Nashville in 1993, and they were married in 1996. Prine and Whelan had two sons together, Jack and Tommy, and Prine adopted Whelan's son, Jody, from a previous relationship. Prine had a home, and spent part of the year, in Kinvara
Kinvara or Kinvarra () is a sea port village in the southwest of County Galway, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of Kinvarradoorus in the north of the barony of Kiltartan. Kinvarra is also an electoral division.
Geography
The villa ...
, Galway, Ireland.
Health problems
In early 1998, Prine was diagnosed with squamous-cell cancer on the right side of his neck. He had major surgery to remove a substantial amount of diseased tissue, followed by six weeks of radiation therapy
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Rad ...
. The surgery removed a piece of his neck and severed a few nerves in his tongue, while the radiation damaged some salivary glands
The salivary glands in mammals are exocrine glands that produce saliva through a system of ducts. Humans have three paired major salivary glands ( parotid, submandibular, and sublingual), as well as hundreds of minor salivary glands. Salivary gl ...
. A year of recuperation and speech therapy
Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...
were necessary before he could perform again. The operation altered his vocals and added a gravelly tone to his voice.
In 2013, Prine underwent surgery to remove cancer in his left lung. After the surgery, a physical therapist put him through an unusual workout to build stamina: Prine was required to run up and down his house stairs, grab his guitar while still out of breath, and sing two songs. Six months later, he was touring again.
Death
On March 19, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Prine's wife Fiona revealed that she had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
and had been quarantined in their home apart from him. He was hospitalized on March 26 after experiencing COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
symptoms. On March 30, Fiona tweeted that she had recovered and that John was in stable condition but not improving. Prine died on April 7, 2020, of complications caused by COVID-19 at the age of 73.
In accordance with Prine's wishes as expressed in his song "Paradise", half of his ashes were spread in Kentucky's Green River. The other half were buried next to his parents in Chicago.
Influence
Prine is widely regarded as one of the most influential songwriters of his generation. He has been referred to as "the Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has pr ...
of songwriting".
Johnny Cash
John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his c ...
, in his autobiography ''Cash
In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.
In bookkeeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-im ...
'', wrote, "I don't listen to music much at the farm, unless I'm going into songwriting mode and looking for inspiration. Then I'll put on something by the writers I've admired and used for years—Rodney Crowell
Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...
, John Prine, Guy Clark
Guy Charles Clark (November 6, 1941 – May 17, 2016) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter and luthier. He released more than 20 albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Jerry Jeff Walker, Jimmy Buffet ...
, and the late Steve Goodman
Steven Benjamin Goodman (July 25, 1948 – September 20, 1984) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter from Chicago. He wrote the song "City of New Orleans", which was recorded by Arlo Guthrie and many others including John Denv ...
are my Big Four ..."
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-s ...
, when asked by ''Word Magazine
Word Magazine was an online magazine active from 1995 to 2000.
History
Launched in 1995 by Carey Earle, Tom Livaccari and Dan Pelson, Word Magazine created original stories, interviews, games, applications, music, interactive objects and art, an ...
'' in 2008 if he heard Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...
's influence in newer British bands such as Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass ...
, replied, "I don't really listen to Radiohead. I listened to the albums and they just didn't move me in the way, say, John Prine does. His is just extraordinarily eloquent music—and he lives on that plane with Neil ">oungand Lennon">ohnLennon." He later named Prine as among the five most important songwriters.
Prine's influence is seen in the work of younger artists, whom he often mentored, including Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires
Amanda Rose Shires (born March 5, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and fiddle player. Shires has released seven solo albums starting in 2005, her most recent being '' Take It Like a Man'' in 2022. In 2019, she founded a country music super ...
, Brandi Carlile
Brandi Marie Carlile ( ; born June 1, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and producer whose music spans many genres, including folk rock, alternative country, Americana, and classic rock. , Carlile has released seven studio albums. She has ...
, Sturgill Simpson, Kacey Musgraves
Kacey Lee Musgraves (born August 21, 1988) is an American country singer. She has won six Grammy Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, and three Academy of Country Music Awards. Musgraves self-released three solo albums and one as Texa ...
, Margo Price
Margo Rae Price (born April 15, 1983) is an American country singer-songwriter and producer based in Nashville, Tennessee. ''The Fader'' has called her "country's next star." Her debut solo album '' Midwest Farmer's Daughter'' was released on T ...
, Tyler Childers, and Robin Pecknold.
Awards and honors
Grammy Awards
Prine won four Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
out of 13 nominations, as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award
The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is a special Grammy Award that is awarded by The Recording Academy
The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of ...
.
Other accolades
*In 2005, at the request of U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, John Prine became the first singer-songwriter to read and perform at the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
.
*In 2016, Prine received the PEN
A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...
New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award.[
*In 2019, Prine was inducted into the ]Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...
with a speech by Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...
.
*Over his career, Prine received six awards from the Americana Music Honors & Awards
The Americana Music Honors & Awards is the marquee event for the Americana Music Association. Beginning in 2002, the Americana Music Association honors distinguished members of the music community. Six member-voted awards and several Lifetime Ac ...
: the Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting (2003), Artist of the Year (2005, 2017, 2018), Song of the Year for " Summer's End" (2019), and Album of the Year for ''The Tree of Forgiveness
''The Tree of Forgiveness'' is the eighteenth and final studio album by American country folk singer John Prine. The album was released on April 13, 2018. It is the last album released by Prine before his death on April 7, 2020.
Background
The al ...
'' (2019).
*On June 30, 2020, Illinois's Governor J.B. Pritzker posthumously named Prine the honorary Poet Laureate of Illinois.
Discography
The week after his death, Prine hit number one on ''Billboard''s Rock Songwriters Chart because his singles ("In Spite Of Ourselves", "Angel from Montgomery", "Hello In There", "When I Get To Heaven", and "That's the Way the World Goes Round") all charted in the top 25 of the Hot Rock Song Chart. On the ''Billboard'' 200, his 1971 debut album re-entered the chart at 55, and his last album, 2018's ''Tree of Forgiveness'', re-entered at 109.
References
External links
*
*
*
* (Notes by John Prine about the inspirations for several of his songs)
''A Literary Evening with John Prine and Ted Kooser.'' March 9, 2005. The Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prine, John
1946 births
2020 deaths
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Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee
Folk musicians from Chicago
Grammy Award winners
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