Folk singer John Prine has died at the age of 73, due to complications from coronavirus.
John – considered one of the greatest songwriters in the folk and country music genre – died on Tuesday, having been hospitalised almost two weeks prior.
The singer’s wife and manager, Fiona, said last month that she had tested positive for Covid-19 but had recovered.
However, John was taken to hospital in Nashville, Tennessee on 26 March, after he began showing symptoms of the condition.
A number of big stars from the music industry have paid tribute to John since the news broke of his death, including Bruce Springsteen, who hailed the late star as a “national treasure” and “songwriter for the ages”.
Throughout his 50 years in the music industry, John became renowned for his lyricism, which centred on love and the tribulations of life, but also touched on social commentary and more controversial and political themes.
A two-time Grammy winner, the Music Academy bestowed him with a lifetime achievement award earlier this year, while Rolling Stone magazine previously referred to him as the “Mark Twain of American songwriting”.
In 2019, he was also inducted into the Songwriting Hall Of Fame.
John previously beat cancer twice, undergoing surgery on his lung seven years ago.
Although the procedure affected his vocal abilities, he continued to write and record music, releasing his 18th and final album, The Tree Of Forgiveness, in 2018.
The album reached number five in the US, and topped Billboard’s folk music chart.
