Songwriting legend John Prine is dead at 73 from complications of coronavirus. Prine had been in the hospital for several weeks, and it was announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19 on March 17. His wife Fiona had been diagnosed with the virus also but she had recovered. The Maywood, Illinois native was known for great songs like “Paradise,” “Angel From Montgomery,” “Grandpa Was A Carpenter” and many others. His big break came came after Prine’s close friend and Chicago folk music contemporary Steve Goodman brought Kris Kristofferson, whose Quiet Knight shows Goodman was opening, to an impromptu late-night performance at another local club. Kristofferson was so impressed that he later called Prine on stage for three songs at a show he was performing at New York’s Bitter End. Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler offered Prine a contract the next day.
Photo by Elizabeth Thorpe
