John Prine: Beloved Singer-Songwriter of Angel from Montgomery Dies at 7

John Prine was an American singer-songwriter, a master of the plainspoken, funny and heartbreaking song. Born John Edward Prine on October 10, 1946, in Maywood, Illinois, he worked as a mailman before his music career took off.

Prine released his debut album in 1971, which included "Sam Stone," "Paradise" and "Angel from Montgomery." He co-founded the independent label Oh Boy Records in 1981. His last album, The Tree of Forgiveness (2018), debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, the highest of his career. He won four Grammys, and he received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2020.

Prine was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019. He survived cancer of the neck in 1998 and lung cancer in 2013. He married Fiona Whelan in 1996, and they had two sons. He was hospitalized on March 26, 2020, with symptoms of COVID-19 and died in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 7, 2020, at age 73.

Achievements: Debut album (1971), co-founded Oh Boy Records (1981), four Grammy Awards, Songwriters Hall of Fame (2019), Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2020).

Birth: October 10, 1946 - Maywood, Illinois.

Profession: Singer-songwriter.

Interesting Facts: Roger Ebert's 1970 review helped put him on the map. He served in the U.S. Army in West Germany.