Jody Whelan reveals plan to stage 'a week of events' in Nashville to celebrate the life and career of his father who passed away a year ago following Covid-19 battle.
- Apr 9, 2021
AceShowbiz - John Prine's son is planning a "week of events" to celebrate his late father later this year (21).
The folk music legend passed away in April 2020 after a long battle with Covid-19 and, due to the ongoing pandemic, his loved ones were unable to gather to remember him.
But now, as more and more people are vaccinated and the numbers continue to go down, Prine's son Jody Whelan - who now runs his father's Oh Boy Records - is hoping to pull out all the stops for a Nashville celebration of his dad's life this autumn.
Reflecting on the upcoming tribute album to Prine - a follow-up to 2010's "Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows" - Jody told Variety, "We're releasing Volume 2 of Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows in the fall. And whereas that first volume was sort of a younger generation that admired John's work but maybe hadn't played shows with him, this next one will be folks that were kind of closer to his circle. We'll be announcing more of it to come, but it is going to come out in the fall."
"And when it comes out, we're planning on having a week of events in Nashville to celebrate John. There will be an in-person aspect, with the caveat that we want to make sure that it's safe, and some of it's going to be online, to have accessible to as many people as possible. We're going to have a fun tribute record, but we also take a week to -if it's safe - all come together to celebrate him."
Jody and his mother Fiona Whelan marked a year since Prine's passing on Wednesday (07Apr21), but the singer's widow admitted she's still trying to come to terms with her husband's death.
"There has been a sense of every day being new and every day being different," she said. "And now we come to the end of the first year, and there's not just a sadness of missing John, which I do every day, but a sadness that now we're one year removed from when I was last with him. And the time really just does keep marching on. Time is nobody's hostage, that's for sure."
