Orval Prophet born 31 August 1922

Orval Prophet (31 August 1922 – 4 January 1984) was among the first Canadian country music performers to achieve a career of international scope. He is a second cousin of Ronnie Prophet who is also a country musician. 

Orval William Prophet was born in Edwards, Ontario, now part of Ottawa. During his teens, he sang pop songs within his family and performed at church and community functions. During his early career, he worked on his family's 140 acres (57 ha) farm and was also a carpenter by trade. He changed his focus to country music after he heard Hank Snow's music and concluded that "Western folk-songs would fit my style". During World War II, Prophet worked on his family's farm since health limitations precluded him from military service. He performed for injured soldiers in Ottawa, walking 38 kilometres (24 mi) from his home to their hospital. 

From 1944 to 1949, he performed throughout eastern Ontario in a country band led by Bill Sheppard. In Ottawa, his live radio performances were featured on CFRA's Fiddler's Fling from 1947 to 1951. A Canadian tour with Wilf Carter in 1949 led to Prophet's recording contract with Decca Records by late 1951. This made Prophet the second Canadian (after Hank Snow) to record in Nashville, he was popular in the USA and Canada during the 1950s with singles (for Decca) released under the names Orval (Rex) Prophet, "The Canadian Plowboy," and Johnny Six . 

                                  

Subsequent recordings as Orval Prophet appeared in Canada under the Harmony, Caledon, Broadland, and Acclaim labels and included several LPs and popular singles. During 1954, Prophet became a million-selling artist in terms of record sales following his successful songs. 

He remained based in Edwards throughout most of his career, becoming known as "The Canadian Ploughboy". His initial reason for remaining in Canada was to remain with his girlfriend, except for a few months in 1958 in Nashville, Prophet toured widely in North America and appeared regularly on the WWVA radio show "Wheeling Jamboree" (Wheeling, West Virginia). Other appearances included CBC Television's The Tommy Hunter Show and at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. When Waylon Jennings was working as a radio host prior to his singing career, he sought to adopt Prophet's singing style. Johnny Cash and Dallas Harms also wrote material for Prophet. 

Prophet underwent open heart surgery in 1970 following a series of five heart attacks. Orval charted 16 singles on Canada’s RPM Country charts, including his signature song, Mile After Mile, which was a #1 hit on Canadian radio in 1972. Orval Prophet was honoured with RPM’s Big Country Award for Outstanding Male Performer of the Year in 1978. In 1979 he was inducted into RPM's Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame. In 1981, Orval Prophet recorded his final album, True Blue, produced in Nashville studios by Stan Campbell and released on Acclaim Records. 

He continued to perform until his last concert on New Year's Eve at the end of 1983. On 4 January 1984, Prophet was shovelling snow at his residence in Edwards when he died of a heart attack. He was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Country Music Association Hall of Honor in 1984 and the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 1989. He was survived by his second wife, Laurette Lalonde. His first wife, Lois Haley, died in 1969. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, Canadian Encyclopedia & Country Music Association of Ontario)