American singer Peter Yarrow of folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary dies at 86
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American singer Peter Yarrow died at his New York home following a four-year battle with bladder cancer,
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NEW YORK – American singer and songwriter Peter Yarrow, who found fame with the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, died on Jan 7 at the age of 86, his publicist said.
Yarrow died in the morning at his New York home surrounded by family, following a four-year battle with bladder cancer, publicist Ken Sunshine said in a statement.
“Our fearless dragon is tired and has entered the last chapter of his magnificent life,” Yarrow’s daughter Bethany said, in a statement provided by Sunshine.
“The world knows Peter Yarrow the iconic folk activist, but the human being behind the legend is every bit as generous, creative, passionate, playful and wise as his lyrics suggest.”
Yarrow formed Peter, Paul and Mary with Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers. The group helped popularise the early work of Bob Dylan and sang hits such as Puff, The Magic Dragon (1963), which Yarrow co-wrote.
The group’s version of Dylan’s Blowin’ In The Wind (1963) helped transform the song into a civil rights anthem and introduced his music to a wider audience.
Peter, Paul and Mary also scored hits in 1962 with If I Had A Hammer and Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, co-written by folk artiste Pete Seeger.
The group’s other successes included covers of Will Holt’s Lemon Tree, released on their debut album in 1962, and John Denver’s Leaving On A Jet Plane, which they released in 1967.
The trio were noted for their political activism. They performed at the 1963 civil rights March on Washington and at demonstrations protesting the Vietnam War.
Throughout his life, Yarrow campaigned for social change and various causes, including equal rights, peace, the environment, gender equality, homelessness, hospice care, public broadcasting and education.
Stookey, 87, the only living member of the trio, praised Yarrow’s creative influence and said he would deeply miss his former bandmate. Travers died in 2009 at the age of 72 from complications related to leukaemia.
“Being an only child, growing up without siblings may have afforded me the full attention of my parents, but with the formation of Peter, Paul and Mary, I suddenly had a brother named Peter Yarrow,” Stookey said.
“And while his comfort in the city and my love of the country tended to keep us apart geographically, our different perspectives were celebrated often in our friendship and our music,” he added.
According to The New York Times, the group split in 1970 to pursue solo careers, but also because Yarrow had been accused of making sexual advances towards a 14-year-old girl. She had come to his dressing room with her 17-year-old sister seeking an autograph in 1969.
He served three months of a one- to three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to taking “indecent liberties” with the girl.
He later apologised for the transgression.
Yarrow is survived by his wife Marybeth, son Christopher, daughter Bethany and granddaughter Valentina. REUTERS
