US folk and country singer John Prine dies from Covid-19
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John Prine, the US folk and country singer beloved of Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson and more, has died aged 73 due to complications from Covid-19.
Prine worked as a postman for years before emerging in the Chicago folk scene in the early 1970s. His music includes protests songs Sam Stone, written in the wake of the Vietnam War and Paradise, about the decline of small-town America at the hands of large mining corporations.
He’s often been compared to Bob Dylan had praised Prine’s songwriting as “pure Proustian existentialism”.
The unassuming Prine never had a hit single or a blockbuster album. But he built a devoted following, won several Grammys and overcame two bouts of cancer to record and tour into his 70s.
Other musicians revered him and covered many of his songs, which wrung wry, universal truths from everyday life. Johnny Cash, in his memoir, named Prine as one of his four key songwriting inspirations. Bob Dylan, in a 2009 interview, said, “Prine’s stuff is pure Proustian existentialism … and he writes beautiful songs.”
Prine won two Grammy awards from 11 nominations and was also given a lifetime achievement award at the 2020 ceremony.
