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 and social commentary. Born and raised in Maywood, Illinois, 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 with the U.S. Army, 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 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 Denver, ...

'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 i ...

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. 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, Kris ...

, 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 out ...

songwriter Bob Dylan, "Prine's stuff is pure

Proustian Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous En ...

existentialism. Midwestern 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 More ...

', 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 to "performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording." ...

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 Paradise was a small town in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, United States. The town was located east-north-east of Greenville and was formerly called Stom's Landing (sometimes incorrectly spelled Stum).Old Town School of Folk Music, and graduated from Proviso East High School in Maywood, Illinois. He was a U.S. Postal Service mailman for five years and was drafted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War 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 Armitage Avenue is an east-west street in Chicago and its western suburbs, being located at 2000 North in the Chicago address system, two and one-half miles north of Madison Street. Its west end is located at President Street in the western subu ...

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'' movie critic

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

, Michael Peter Smith, Bonnie Koloc, Jim Post,

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 music, folk scene that spawned such per ...

, Anne Hills, and Fred Holstein. Joined by such established musicians as Jethro Burns and Bob Gibson, 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 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 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 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

the next day. The album included Prine's signature songs "Illegal Smile" and "

", and songs that became folk and country standards, " Angel from Montgomery" and " Paradise." 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 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 The term American folk music encompasses numerous music genres, variously known as ''traditional music'', ''traditional folk music'', ''contemporary folk music'', ''vernacular music,'' or ...

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, 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 advertise ...

'' and reflected his growing commercial success. It was produced by Steve Cropper. ''

Bruised Orange ''Bruised Orange'' is the fifth album by American Folk music, folk singer and songwriter John Prine, released in 1978. Recording After the tepid reviews for his 1975 album ''Common Sense'', Prine was disillusioned with his label, Atlantic Records, ...

'' 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 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 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 founder Sam Phillips, who by this time rarely did any studio work. The song "Saigon" is about a Vietnam veteran 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

in Nashville, Tennessee. 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 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-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 Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

. In 1995, ''

Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings ''Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings'' is the 12th studio album by American folk singer John Prine, released in 1995. The cover artwork is by John Callahan. Recording ''Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings'' was produced by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ...

'' 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,

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, including ...

, Patty Loveless, Dolores Keane, Trisha Yearwood, and Iris DeMent.

2000s

In 2001, Prine appeared in a supporting role in the Billy Bob Thornton movie '' Daddy & Them.'' "In Spite of Ourselves" is played during the end credits. Prine recorded a version of Stephen Foster'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 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'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, The Avett Brothers,

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 (dru ...

, Old Crow Medicine Show, Lambchop, Josh Ritter, Drive-By Truckers, 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's Justin Vernon. John Prine (2016) (cropped)

In 2016, Prine was named winner of the PEN/Song Lyrics Award, given to two songwriters every other year by the PEN New England chapter. The 2016 award was shared with Tom Waits and his songwriting collaborator wife Kathleen Brennan. 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,

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 Order of the British Empire, 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 ...

, 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 M ...

, as well as literary judges Salman Rushdie, Natasha Tretheway, and Paul Muldoon. 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, Kacey Musgraves, 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 exhibit featured a pair of cowboy boots 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 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 alb ...

'', 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, 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 John Sturgill Simpson (born June 8, 1978) is an American country music singer-songwriter and actor. As of February 2022, he has released seven albums as a solo artist. His first two albums, '' High Top Mountain'' and '' Metamodern Sounds in Cou ...

, Vince Gill, Jason Isbell, Kacey Musgraves,

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, Eric Church,

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, 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. The surgery removed a piece of his neck and severed a few nerves in his tongue, while the radiation damaged some salivary glands. 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 and had been quarantined in their home apart from him. He was hospitalized on March 26 after experiencing COVID-19 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 p ...

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 ca ...

, in his autobiography '' Cash'', 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, John Prine, Guy Clark, and the late

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-so ...

, 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 music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

'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 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,

, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, 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 pres ...

out of 13 nominations, as well as a

Other accolades

*In 2005, at the request of

U.S. Poet Laureate The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the official poet of the United States. During their term, the poet laureate seeks to raise the national cons ...

Ted Kooser, John Prine became the first singer-songwriter to read and perform at the Library of Congress. *In 2016, Prine received the PEN New England Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Award. *In 2019, Prine was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with a speech by

. *Over his career, Prine received six awards from the Americana Music Honors & Awards: 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 ''

'' (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 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American folk singers American male singer-songwriters American country singer-songwriters United States Army soldiers American country guitarists American bluegrass guitarists American acoustic guitarists American folk guitarists Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee Folk musicians from Chicago Grammy Award winners Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Mail carriers Old Town School of Folk musicians People from Maywood, Illinois Singer-songwriters from Illinois Guitarists from Illinois American male guitarists Country musicians from Illinois