Iris DeMent: It’s rare to see John got angry. I’ve seen him angry a time or two but if things go wrong with John, somehow you come away thinking that the wrong thing was the right thing. You get lost, or you’re an hour off your path, you’re going to miss soundcheck, somehow it’s fun or funny with John. There’s no anxiety. He just has a way of accepting it for what it is. He has a lot of joy about him, in who he is and his view of the world. Who doesn’t want to be around that? And it’s sincere. It’s not this syrupy, weird thing. He’s entertained by life, he’s curious about it, and he appreciates all of life’s little strange twists and turns, and being around him reminds me to try to do that. It’s rubbed off on me.

Todd Snider: John never gets mad. I’ve heard about him getting mad one time, that’s it, and I still don’t know it was about. Somebody just told me he got mad once. All I know is that it allegedly happened. And I don’t believe it! In fact, I know that John was making jokes in the office the day they told him he had cancer. That’s John. He was comforting Al Bunetta (John’s late manager) that day. Al told me that he didn’t know how he could have gotten through that day without John.

Fiona Prine: I tell lots of people that John does not take any of his illnesses personally. I’ve never seen him going, “Oh, why me? I should have done this differently.” No. It’s, “What do I need to do here so that I can walk through this and get past it.” When he was diagnosed with neck cancer all those years ago, they laid out a pretty strong program of treatment that would involve his vocal chords. John’s reply was, “You know what, you do what you do, and I’ll take care of the singing.” One doctor, he was very concerned, he said, “I know you’re a singer, John,” and John goes, “Well, evidently, you haven’t heard me sing, doctor.” John wants to live. He wants to live.

Amanda Shires: John is a constant listener. He listens more than he talks, really. He listens and he hears, and I feel like he’s an excellent judge of character. All the time, he’s really listening and paying attention and noticing the details of the way of the world and how communication with people works. If you go up to him and say, “I like your song,” a lot of times he’ll remember where he met you and where you’re from, stuff like that. A fan once told me that he met John once in the ’80s and then met him again in the ’90s, and John was like, “Oh yeah, I remember meeting you.” And John’s family is everything to him. I’ve seen his stage setup when I’ve sound-checked and he keeps pictures of his family on his table.

Fiona Prine: Gosh, he makes me smile. There’s so much about him that’s kind of childlike, in what makes him happy. My mother has a birthday every July 5th, and, so obviously, I like to give my mother everything I can give her, and I enjoy giving her gifts, but John always likes to get his own gifts for my mother. And when John buys gifts, it doesn’t matter whether the gift is five cents or $5,000, if he sees something that is just perfect for my mother, he’ll always get it. It’s the same thing for me. It’s about a personal connection. He’ll get something, and the person receiving the gift will go, “Oh, my god. He knows me. He really knows me.” I’ve seen him do that over and over again. And like I said, it doesn’t matter what it costs, it’s whether the gift reflects what he knows to be true about the person he loves. To me, that just says everything about him, his generosity of heart and spirit.

When John went to buy my engagement ring all of those years ago, he visited a jeweler in Nashville. And if you don’t know John, if you don’t know his music or know him as a well known person, you just look at a guy with his hair standing at the top of his head with grubby jeans and a black T-shirt. I mean, that’s what you’re seeing. So, evidently, that’s what this particular jeweler saw. And John is so shy, so when this jeweler asked John, “What can I do for you?” John just mumbled something, because again, he was looking for that very ring that was going to be the ring for me. And so John “hmmm’ed” and “haaa’ed” at this jeweler, whatever he does, and the jeweler said, “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t believe we’ll have what you’re looking for. Thank you,” and then showed John the door. Now, that hurt. That really hurt me when I heard that. But John just moves on through that. That’s who he is. He’s Johnny, as his mom called him. Johnny. John Prine is one guy, but Johnny is somebody else. And he really, really loves the people that he loves. It’s just amazing to me. He has a heart of gold.

Iris Dement: John just makes you happy. He makes people feel good. There are a lot of people who have accomplished a lot in life who people put on pedestals, and they walk around in that safe, little, pedastal-ed zone. John’s not like that. When you’re walking around with John, he puts you on a pedestal. And it’s a sincere thing. And I’ll get choked up saying that because it’s just true. Because he’s just got a loving heart. He likes people, and he likes to see people do well, and he likes to see the light shine on them, and for them to be seen at their best. When you’re with John, whether you’re eating dinner with John or whether you’re on stage with John, you just feel that he wants to see your boat float.

