John Prine Illness: What Disease Does John Prine Have?

Prine was born in Maywood, Illinois on October 10, 1946, to Verna Valentine (Hamm) and William Mason Prine, a tool and die, maker. When he was fourteen, his brother taught him how to play the guitar. John worked as a postman for five years and served in the Army for two years before launching his musical career in Chicago’s folk music scene. For his remarkable self-titled debut album in 1971, Prine received a lot of praise from critics. The albums that followed, “Diamonds in the Rough” and “Sweet Revenge,” were also well-received by critics, but none of them were commercial hits.

In the mid-1970s, John began to experiment with his core melodic folk/country sound: The 1975 album “Common Sense” veered more towards gritty rock, while the 1979 album “Pink Cadillac” was a straight-up boisterous rockabilly outing. Throughout the 1980s, he continued to record albums. His excellent 1991 CD, “The Missing Years,” won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. His songs have been performed by singers such as The Everly Brothers (“Paradise”), Bette Midler (“Hello in There”), Joan Baez (“Hello in There”), and Laura Cantrell (“Sam Stone”). John has significant co-starring roles in the films Falling from Grace (1992) and Daddy and Them (1993). (2001). Into the Wild (2007), Grass (1999), Fire Down Below (1997), UFOria (1984), and The Pride of Jesse Hallam are among the films with Prine’s songs on the soundtrack (1981). John was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the neck in 1998, underwent surgery and radiation treatment, and recovered completely in 1999. On September 9, 2005, Prine received the Artist of the Year Award at the Americana Music Awards. Following that, he published the critically acclaimed CD “Standard Songs for Ordinary People.”

Fair & Square was his 15th studio album, published on Oh Boy Records in 2005. It was available on ordinary CD, Extended Play (EP) CD with four bonus tracks, and vinyl with the same four bonus tracks. Fair & Square received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 48th Grammy Awards. Prine was diagnosed with cancer again in late 2014, underwent surgery and treatment, and resumed touring in 2015. He died in 2020 from COVID-19.

John Prine Illness: What Disease Does John Prine Have?

Prine underwent cancer surgery in 1998 to remove a squamous cell cancer tumor in his neck that had damaged his vocal chords.