John Prine sang "Got no future in my happiness/Though, regrets are very few/Sometimes a little tenderness/Was the best that I could do" on 'I Remember Everything', the last song he recorded before he passed away from COVID-19; JD Simo's 'One Of Those Days' is a soulful, psychedelic and amusing rock; Bettye LaVette remade Billie Holiday's iconic 'Strange Fruit' reminding us public executions of this day aren't that different from the ones from two centuries ago; bass icon Bootsy Collins released 'Stars', featuring philosopher Dr. Cornel West, drummer Steve Jordan, banjo legend Béla Fleck, and EmiSunshine & Olvido Ruiz; Pop Smoke's posthumous album is coming out in July, 'Make It Rain' sounds promising, in mainstream hip-hop terms; Woodkid's 'Pale Yellow' is a strange fruit, dramatic, cinematic, folk-ish.

American folk singer John Prine has died at 73 following complications with the COVID-19 coronavirus, NPR reports. Prine worked as a mailman in Chicago in the 1960s when he began singing at open mic nights. His first review came courtesy of the legendary Roger Ebert, who happened to catch a show of his at the folk club the Fifth Peg. Prine's self-titled debut came out in 1971 on Atlantic Records after he was championed by actor and musician Kris Kristofferson, and his last album 'The Tree of Forgiveness' came out in 2018. In 2010, he was honored with a tribute album that featured artists like My Morning Jacket, the Avett Brothers, Conor Oberst, Drive-By Truckers, and Bon Iver covering his songs. He had a considerable following from musicians, including Roger Waters, Johnny Cash, and Bob Dylan. “Prine’s stuff is pure Proustian existentialism” - Dylan once said - “midwestern mind-trips to the nth degree. And he writes beautiful songs”. Tennessean published a big biography of the singer, and the NPR has a great essay about him. Watch his great performance at Tiny Desk below, and listen to his after-I'm-dead song he wrote to himself here.

Stephen Colbert shared a previously-unreleased performance video of folk singer John Prine, who is recovering from COVID-19 infection. Colbert introduced the four-year-old duet saying - “I’d like to share with you right now one of the happiest moments I’ve had on my show or any show. And that’s when John and I sung a duet in 2016 that we never broadcast, but we’d like to now. Happy enchilada, John". In a prophetic opener to their performance, Colbert said to his audience - “We’ll probably do this for the Internet. Unless, you know, something terrible happens and we have to cheer up the world on the TV show”.

Nominees for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, class of 2019.: Radiohead, Rage Against The Machine, Janet Jackson, Roxy Music, Stevie Nicks, The Cure, MC5, Kraftwer, Def Leppard, Todd Rundgren, Rufus and Chaka Khan, LL Cool J, The Zombies, Devo, and John Prine. The top five vote-getters, as determined by a group of artists, […]