When John Prine plays Dublin's Olympia theatre on Monday night it will be as much a cause for celebration for him as for his fans. A bout of cancer threatened to waylay his career as a writer of some of the best contemporary folk songs of the past 20 years, but he has triumphed against adversity and come back fighting.
53-year-old Prine has experienced both cult status and major league success. From Sam Stone in the early 1970s to The Missing Years two decades later, the Illinois-born, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter has journeyed from critics' favourite to co-writing with (I kid you not) Daniel O'Donnell.
As he gets older, his songs are becoming weirder, which is probably just how he likes it.
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