Tweet John Prine in 2016Photo: Daniel Meigs Each year, Nashville copes with the loss of people who make our conglomeration of music scenes feel like a community and show us the greatness we can aspire to. Perhaps no loss was felt more deeply in Music City in 2020 than that of someone who did both. Songwriter’s songwriter John Prine died in April at age 73 from complications of COVID-19. He was an unfailing mentor and friend, and his unassumingly brilliant songs have been an example for two generations. In January, hours after he told a radio interviewer about how exciting he still found it to perform, David Olney died of an apparent heart attack onstage. He was 71. Kenny Rogers, one of the finest singers in the past half-century of country and pop music, died at 81 in March. Charley Pride, another astonishing singer who was the first Black country superstar (with more than 50 top 10 singles), was 86 when he died this month of COVID complications. Little Richard, whose influentially flamboyant performances turned rock ’n’ roll into something transformative and boundary-breaking, split his last years between Nashville and Tullahoma. He died in May at 87.