“When I get to heaven, I’m gonna shake God’s hand.”
John Prine, an award-winning country-folk singer, died on Tuesday at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he was being treated for the coronavirus. He was 73.
Prine’s cause of death was complications from COVID-19, his family said, according to the New York Times. Prine was a two-time Grammy winner and was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Prine was born in a working-class suburb of Chicago to a family that embraced the country music genre. He learned how to play guitar from his brother and grandfather and soon began writing songs.
He infused his folk-country songs with off-beat humor, writing songs such as, Jesus, the Missing Years and Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore.
He won a Grammy for his 1992 album The Missing Years, which featured guest artists such as Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen. His second Grammy came in 2006 for the album Fair and Square. Last December, he was selected to receive a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Prine is survived by his wife, Fiona Whelan Prine, two brothers, three sons, and three grandchildren.
After his death, his name trended on Twitter in addition to his song When I Get to Heaven.
“When I get to heaven, I’m gonna shake God’s hand,” the lyrics read. “Thank him for more blessings than one man can stand. Then I’m gonna get a guitar and start a rock ‘n’ roll band. Check into a swell hotel. Ain’t the afterlife grand?”
