Chicago Marks John Prine’s 80th Birthday With Sold Out Tributes, a New Film Preview and Maywood Gatherings Across a Week of Concerts and Screenings
CHICAGO, IL — John Prine’s music is back in the neighborhoods that helped define it as Chicago and Maywood celebrate what would have been the songwriter’s 80th birthday. The weeklong tribute stretches through October 11 and brings together concerts, film screenings, conversations and community gatherings tied to the places where Prine’s story began.
At the center of the celebration are the Old Town School of Folk Music and Maywood, two touchstones in Prine’s life and career. The Prine family and the Hello In There Foundation are leading the events, with Fiona Prine helping organize the week while continuing the charitable work connected to her husband’s legacy.
A new Prine film gets its Chicago preview
Chicago film fans are also getting an early look at How Lucky Can One Man Get?, a documentary produced and edited by John Anderson and directed by Jim Shea. The film draws on Prine’s 2010 benefit concerts at Proviso East High School and mixes those performances with family memories, friendships and community stories from his early years.
Anderson’s connection to Prine grew out of his friendship with Steve Goodman. As a college freshman in April 1973, Anderson recorded Goodman at The Earl of Old Town, and the two men later hoped to release that performance. Goodman eventually introduced Anderson to Prine and manager Al Bunetta in the late 1970s, setting off a relationship that would shape the film project years later.
From a Nashville shuttle conversation to a finished documentary
Anderson says the idea for a Prine film came back into focus during the 2006 Grammy Awards, when he crossed paths with Bunetta on a rental car shuttle in Los Angeles. Anderson was there as a nominee for Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE, while Prine was nominated for Fair & Square, which won.
When Bunetta asked when they would finally make a John Prine film, Anderson answered, “How about tomorrow?” The project took years longer than that, but Prine later took part in the work himself. Anderson says the film was developed with Prine’s cooperation about a decade before his death, and he stresses that it was not created after Prine was gone.
Most of the footage was shot around Chicago, especially near Prine’s home of Maywood, using local crews. Anderson also filmed some studio material in Nashville. He says the documentary focuses on Prine’s life up to the release of his first album and on the love and music that surrounded him.
John Prine tributes at the Chicago Theatre and Old Town School
One of the biggest events in the celebration is Souvenirs: 80 Years of John Prine at the Chicago Theatre on October 8. Hosted by John C. Reilly, the sold out concert benefits the Hello In There Foundation through proceeds that support its grantmaking work.
Performers will sing Prine songs with support from his longtime live band. The foundation’s work reaches organizations focused on food insecurity, housing, health, addiction recovery and other community needs, and its 2024 grants included support for MusiCares, music education and Hurricane Helene recovery in Western North Carolina.
Earlier in the day, the Old Town School of Folk Music hosts an Oh Boy Records pop-up shop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Anderson and Fiona Prine then present The Making of “How Lucky Can One Man Get?” from 1 to 2:30 p.m., with performance and interview outtakes plus discussion of Prine’s ties to the school and Chicago’s folk scene.
Film screenings and Chicago History Museum events fill October 9
The tribute continues Friday with John Prine’s Chicago at the Chicago History Museum from 1 to 2:30 p.m. That event is sold out, underscoring how much interest the anniversary has drawn from fans who want to revisit the city that shaped his songs.
Later that evening, the Gene Siskel Film Center will screen How Lucky Can One Man Get? at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Anderson and Fiona Prine are scheduled for a Q&A after the sold out 6 p.m. showing, and the Film Center says it will open a waitlist 30 minutes before that screening.
The screenings add a more intimate layer to the week, giving audiences a chance to hear how the documentary was built and how Prine’s Chicago connections informed the project.
Birthday celebrations in Chicago and Maywood close the tribute
Saturday’s birthday events begin at the Old Town School with a songwriting program at 10:30 a.m., followed by a noon dedication of Jon Langford’s Prine mural and an afternoon singalong. The daytime celebration is ticketed and sold out, as is the 6 p.m. musical tribute at Martyrs’.
On Sunday, Maywood hosts a free celebration from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The trolley tours are sold out, but organizers say the rest of the gathering remains open to the public. The day includes self-guided walking tours and a supply drive for Housing Forward, with warm coats, boots and winter accessories especially welcomed.
The weekend finishes with a gathering at Hattie B’s in Wrigleyville, 3649 N. Clark Street, from 3 to 7 p.m. Together, the events send Prine’s birthday back to the streets, rooms and communities that helped shape the voice fans still associate with Chicago.
Why the celebration still resonates with fans
The anniversary week is not only a musical salute. It also reflects the way Prine’s career and his charitable legacy remain linked through the Hello In There Foundation and the people who knew him best. Fiona Prine has kept that connection active by pairing celebration with giving, support and neighborhood engagement.
That same spirit runs through the film preview, the sold out shows, the museum programs and the free community event in Maywood. The week began October 7 with a Gman Tavern kickoff, The Literary Heart of John Prine at Metro and a Siskel screening, and remaining event information is available on John Prine’s official calendar. For fans, the schedule turns an 80th birthday into a citywide remembrance grounded in music, memory and service.
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