Exceptionally talented singer/songwriter John Prine has enjoyed a 40 plus year career that encompasses such diverse music genres as folk, rock, country, and rockabilly. With his wry sense of humor, sharp, incisive songwriting, and endearingly offbeat perspective, John has distinguished himself as a true original with a well-deserved loyal cult following. Prine was born on October 10, 1946 in Maywood, Illinois. He was taught by his brother how to play guitar at age fourteen. John worked as a postman for five years and did a two-year stint in the Army prior to beginning his musical career as part of the folk music scene in Chicago. Prine garnered a lot of accolades from critics for his outstanding self-titled 1971 debut album. The follow-up albums, "Diamonds in the Rough" and "Sweet Revenge", were likewise well-received by critics but, alas, none of these albums were big commercial successes. In the mid 70s, John began to vary his basic melodic folk/country sound: The 1975 album, "Common Sense", leaned more towards tough rock and the 1979 album, "Pink Cadillac", was a straight-up raucous rockabilly outing. He continued to record albums throughout the 80s. His terrific 1991 album, "The Missing Years", won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. His songs have been covered by such artists as The Everly Brothers ("Paradise"), Bette Midler ("Hello in There"), Joan Baez ("Hello in There") and Laura Cantrell ("Sam Stone"). John has sizable co-starring roles in the movies, Falling from Grace (1992) and Daddy and Them (2001). Among the films that feature Prine's songs on the soundtrack are Into the Wild (2007), Grass (1999), Menace toxique (1997), UFOria (1985) and The Pride of Jesse Hallam (1981). In 1998, John was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma of the neck, underwent surgery and radiation treatment and, subsequently, made a full recovery in 1999. Prine was the recipient of the Artist of the Year Award at the Americana Music Awards on September 9, 2005. More recently, John Prine has released critically acclaimed album "Standard Songs for Average People". In 2005 Fair & Square was his 15th studio album, released on Oh Boy Records. It was released on a standard CD, an Extended Play (EP) CD with four bonus tracks, and a vinyl version with the same four bonus tracks.At the 48th Grammy Awards, Fair & Square won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. In late 2014 Prine was again diagnosed with a cancer, received surgery and treatment and was back out touring on the road in 2015.
