Americana legend John Prine has been hospitalized since Thursday (March 26) after experiencing a sudden onset of COVID-19 symptoms.
A cancer survivor himself, the singer’s family revealed the news Sunday afternoon (March 29) with a post on social media, explaining that his “situation is critical.”
“After a sudden onset of COVID-19 symptons, John was hospitalized on Thursday (3/26),” the post says. “He was intubated Saturday evening, and continues to receive care, but his situation is critical.
“This is hard news for us to share,” the message continues. “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 on more of that love and support now. And know that we love you, and John loves you.”
The news comes hours after country star Joe Diffie died from coronavirus-related complications and a week after Prine’s wife and manager, Fiona Whelan Prine, was diagnosed with the coronavirus. The Tennessean reported the news on March 19 shortly after she shared her diagnosis on Instagram. The couple had been self-quarantined and isolated from each other.
“So many people have reached out to see how we are, and especially how John is, because many of you know that he’s had a lot of different health issues, and he is definitely in that vulnerable population that they’ve been talking about. So far, he’s fine,” she wrote last week. “He’s always got a little something going on…he may not have this virus, and I really want to keep it that way, because this would not be a good virus for him to get.”
