Illegal Smile

Behind The Song

04.18.25

The Story Behind John Prine’s 1971 Classic “Illegal Smile” And Why it Was Never a Song About “Smoking Dope”

By Tina Benitez-Eves

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Hervé Villechaize, Buddy Killen and George Jones at the 16th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 30, 1981 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Credit: (Photo by Ralph Dominquez / MediaPunch via Getty Images)

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