John Prine
John Prine wrote some of the most loved songs in American folk and country music, full of plain-spoken humour and sudden heartbreak.
- Born
- 10 October 1946, Maywood, Illinois
- Died
- 7 April 2020, Nashville, Tennessee
- Plays
- Guitar, vocals
- Label
- Oh Boy Records, co-founded 1981
- Honours
- Songwriters Hall of Fame (2019); Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2020)
Career
In 1970 film critic Roger Ebert wrote about him in the Chicago Sun-Times, and in 1971 Steve Goodman persuaded Kris Kristofferson to come and hear him. Kristofferson had him open his shows, which led to a deal with Atlantic Records and his debut album, John Prine, in 1971.
In 1981 he co-founded Oh Boy Records in Nashville, which released all his music from then on. The Missing Years (1991) and Fair & Square (2005) both won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album. He received the Americana Music Association's Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting in 2003 and entered the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019. His last album, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018), debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, his highest chart position. He died in 2020 of complications from COVID-19.
Songs to know
- "Sam Stone"
- "Angel from Montgomery"
- "Paradise"
- "Hello in There"
- "I Remember Everything", which won two Grammys in 2021
Selected albums
| Year | Album |
|---|---|
| 1971 | John Prine |
| 1972 | Diamonds in the Rough |
| 1978 | Bruised Orange |
| 1991 | The Missing Years |
| 2005 | Fair & Square |
| 2018 | The Tree of Forgiveness |
More great songwriters: Tom Paxton · Greg Brown · Utah Phillips