Brandi Carlile's 2021 Grammy Awards performance will be a moment nearly a year in the making. The Americana star is honoring the late John Prine, who died of COVID-19 in early April 2020, she shares in footage from rehearsals for the big awards show.

"He is one of my great heroes," Carlile says of Prine. "He's certainly one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and there's so many of that just wouldn't -- we wouldn't write songs and we wouldn't know how if not for John."

A folk legend known for songs such as "Sam Stone" and "Angel From Montgomery," the latter of which Bonnie Raitt made famous, Prine died of the novel coronavirus on April 7, at the age of 73. Carlile admits that his death has felt especially heavy for her and many others because the singer-songwriter's friends, family and fans were not able to gather together in person to honor him.

"Having lost him this year to COVID is especially heartbreaking," Carlile continues, "but there's something about this performance for me that's really cathartic ... and I just feel like there's hope and redemption in the words of [the song I'm performing]."

Carlile did not specify which song of Prine's she will be singing during Sunday night's (March 14) 2021 Grammy Awards ceremony. Prine's final song, "I Remember Everything," released posthumously, is nominated for Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song this year.

PICTURES: Brandi Carlile at 2021 Grammy Awards Rehearsals

Prine earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy in 2020. On Thursday (March 11), his wife Fiona -- who also contracted COVID-19, but beat the virus -- shared several photos from that night. "Not sure how long it will take to walk in the world without John by my side or him calling me 15 times a day to check in if I was on an adventure," she writes.

It's not clear if Fiona Prine will attend the 2021 Grammy Awards in person; however, a post on her Instagram account shows that she recently received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Comedian and late-night TV host Trevor Noah will host the 2021 Grammy Awards. The televised ceremony will begin at 8PM ET on CBS, and the pre-telecast Premiere Ceremony will be available to stream online earlier in the evening. The show was pushed back from late January due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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