John Prine performs on Saturday, June 15, 2019 during the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn. D4s5085
Syndication: Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The wife of celebrated singer-songwriter John Prine says she was able to sit with her husband in the last hours of his life. Prine died Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 73 from complications of COVID-19.
Fiona Whelan Prine says in a statement Wednesday that he could not overcome the damage this virus inflicted on his body despite receiving excellent care at Vanderbilt’s hospital.
Fiona Prine also contracted the coronavirus and has since recovered. She urged people of all ages to follow guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the virus.
Some people, the songs just come out of them. For nearly half a century, they tumbled out of John Prine like nothing. His songs — compassionate, funny, sage — make up an American songbook that would be staggeringly intimidating if it wasn’t so warm and welcoming.
He began — with a dare at an infamous open mic — a fully formed songwriter who through calamity and cancer never once wavered in his wry, homespun humanism. He was, anyone would say, as good as they come.
Some of his best songs include “Angel From Montgomery,” “Spanish Pipedream” and “Lake Marie.”
