Key Points
Pioneering folk trio member who transformed American music landscape
Influential songwriter behind iconic protest anthems
Grammy-winning musician who bridged music and social justice
Passed away peacefully at 86 after battle with cancer
As per Variety, Peter died on Tuesday morning at his home in New York City "with his family by his side." Yarrow had been battling cancer for four years. He was 86.
Peter, Paul and Mary were a leading light of the booming folk-music scene of the early 1960s, which famously centered around the nightclubs and cafes of New York's Greenwich Village. Yarrow had begun singing while a student at Cornell University and performed in New York and at the Newport Folk Festival, where he was spotted by manager Albert Grossman, who had a vision of "an updated version of the Weavers," the legendary folk group featuring Pete Seeger. Singers Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers were soon recruited and, using Stookey's middle name, Peter, Paul and Mary were born, according to Variety.
The trio signed with Warner Bros Records and achieved success quickly with their first singles, "The Lemon Tree" and "If I Had a Hammer" and won two Grammy Awards in 1962. Several of their best-known songs, including the haunting antiwar ballad "The Great Mandala," were written or co-written by Mr Yarrow.
He is survived by his wife Marybeth, son Christopher, daughter Bethany and granddaughter Valentina.
