Folk Music Legend Pete Seeger Dies, Aged 94

January 29, 2014

Folk music pioneer, singer, songwriter and political activist Pete Seeger died on Monday in New York. He was 94 years old. Once called ‘America’s tuning fork,’ by poet Carl Sandburg, Seeger is considered one of the pioneers of contemporary folk music who inspired countless other activist singer-songwriters.

Seeger’s best known songs include Where Have All the Flowers Gone, Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season) and If I Had a Hammer. According to The New York Times, “Seeger’s grandson, Kitama Cahill-Jackson said his grandfather died peacefully in his sleep around 9:30 p.m. at New York Presbyterian Hospital, where he had been for six days. Family members were with him.

Seeger was well known for his political activism, championing causes of the left. He sang at labour rallies and civil right marches. He helped publish the song We Shall Overcome, adapted from an early gospel song and which then became a civil rights anthem.

Seeger also worked as an environmentalist, protested against wars including Vietnam and Iraq and, during the McCarthy era, was sentenced to prison for refusing to testify to Congress about his time in the Communist Party. He never served time and the case was dismissed years later.

The controversy shattered Seeger’s career, breaking up his then band the Weavers. Seeger continued to record and make concert appearances but was barred from network TV for 17 years. “For Mr. Seeger, folk music and a sense of community were inseparable, and where he saw a community, he saw the possibility of political action,” wrote The New York Times.

The Times also notes that Seeger “was a mentor to younger folk and topical singers in the ’50s and ’60s,” among them Bob Dylan and Don McLean. “He lived at a time when so many things hadn’t been done yet, the idea of making music about something hadn’t really been done,” Seeger’s grandson told CNN. “And now people do it all the time.”

In early 2009, Seeger played a pre-inaugural concert for US President Barack Obama, teaming with Bruce Springsteen to perform the song This Land Is Your Land, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

“Over the years, Pete used his voice — and his hammer — to strike blows for worker’s rights and civil rights; world peace and environmental conservation. And he always invited us to sing along,” he continued,” said President Obama in a statement today.

Pete Seeger’s wife, Toshi, died in 2013, days before the couple’s 70th anniversary. He is survived by his son, two daughters, two half-sisters, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. “For reminding us where we come from and showing us where we need to go, we will always be grateful to Pete Seeger,” said the President.