His family tweeted news about his critical condition the following Sunday: “This is hard news for us to share. But so many of you have loved and supported John over the years, we wanted to let you know, and give you the chance to send out more of that love and support now. And know that we love you, and John loves you.”

His wife Fiona Whelan Prine, whom he married in 1996, said Monday that she had recovered from the virus but John was still in critical condition.

Born in the Chicago suburb of Maywood, Illinois, in 1946, Prine learned to play guitar from his older brother. At age 23, after serving in the Army during the Vietnam War, Prine was working as a mailman and playing his original songs at the Chicago folk club The Fifth Peg. Young journalist Roger Ebert dropped in one night and penned a stellar review for the Chicago Sun-Times, helping to launch Prine’s music career.

Kris Kristofferson, who became one of Prine’s earliest supporters and longtime friends, added him to a New York show that attracted label interest. Prine made his debut with a self-titled album in 1971.

Although the rootsy musician never scored a major hit of his own, he made several for others — the most well-known being “Angel From Montgomery,” recorded by Bonnie Raitt.

Well-known artists also covered several songs from Prine’s premiere album, including “Sam Stone” (recorded by Johnny Cash, John Fogerty and more), “Hello in There” (Joan Baez, Bette Midler, David Allan Coe) and “Paradise” (John Denver, among others).

Prine garnered praise from Bob Dylan, and countless other songs from across his 24 albums have been recorded by dozens of artists including Kristofferson, George Strait, Paul Westerberg, Norah Jones and Dwight Yoakam. That first self-titled record was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2014.

After treatment from two bouts of cancer in 1998 and 2013 left Prine’s voice sounding lower and more gravely, Prine continued to record.

He released “The Tree of Forgiveness” in 2018, his first album of new material in 13 years, which peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 — a career-high for him.

On his website, Prine said, “I kept saying when I was doing this album, it’s going to be my last one. But if things go really good with it, I can’t see why I wouldn’t do something else.”

Before falling ill, Prine had planned a North American and European tour that was scheduled to begin in May.

Prine was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2019 and won Grammys for his 1991 album, “The Missing Years” and 2005’s “Fair & Square.”

Prine was recognized with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award this year. At the ceremony in January, Raitt paid tribute to him with an acoustic version of “Angel From Montgomery.”

“My friend John Prine, who is sitting right over there, wrote ‘Angel From Montgomery’ and so many other songs that changed my life,” Raitt said after her performance. “I love you, John.”

Hearing of his critical condition, folk singer Baez dedicated a YouTube performance of “Hello in There” to John and Fiona, saying it’s been one of the most requested songs in her repertoire for more than 40 years.

After Fiona, who was also his manager, tweeted the news of his illness, artists and fans from all over chimed in: “Sending our love to each of y’all. Hoping for the best,” said Jason Isbell; “Hang on, John. The world needs you,” said Todd Snider; “We love you so much John,” said Margo Price; “goddamit if we lose john prine i swear to f - - king GOD,” tweeted Patton Oswald; “Sending blessings and every kind of good mojo we can conjure. We all love John Prine,” said the Drive-By Truckers; and Mark Hamill, who said, “Get Well Soon John!”

My Morning Jacket’s Jim James posted a moving cover of “All the Best” on Instagram, saying, “I just wanted to send down some love to our brother, John Prine. We are so grateful for all the unbelievable music you’ve given us and all the fun we’ve had listening to music. I feel so blessed to have been able to play some music with you.”

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sending so much love and healing energy to john and his family right now. you are in our prayers and in our hearts. peace and love now and forever. @john_prine

A post shared by jimjames (@removador) on Mar 29, 2020 at 7:06pm PDT