Pete Seeger, the iconic banjo-strumming folk singer and activist who performed for migrant workers and presidents, died on Monday. He was 94.
dpa via EPA, file
American folk singing legend and activist Pete Seeger performs in a concert in then East Berlin, East Germany, in 1967.
Seeger, the writer or co-writer of If I Had a Hammer, Turn, Turn, Turn, and Where Have All the Flowers Gone, died of natural causes in a New York City hospital, his grandson Kitama Cahill-Jackson confirmed to NBC News early Tuesday.
Be wary of great leaders, he told The Associated Press after a 2011 Manhattan Occupy march. Hope that there are many, many small leaders.
As a member of the Communist Party in the 1940s, Seeger’s skepticism of those in power carried through his career. He was a longtime supporter of the labor movement, and supported the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements. Seeger was also convicted of contempt of Congress after refusing to answer questions at the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Nevertheless, he performed for presidents as well, including at President Barack Obama’s inauguration concert in 2009.
President Bill Clinton hailed him as an inconvenient artist who dared to sing things as he saw them.
Seeger was born on May 3, 1919, to an artistic family in New York City. His skepticism started early. He dropped out of Harvard and took to the road in 1938.
The sociology professor said, ‘Don’t think that you can change the world. The only thing you can do is study it,’ Seeger said in October 2011, according to the AP.
During World War II, he entertained soldiers in the South Pacific as part of the Special Services.
Seeger was credited with popularizing what became the anthem for the civil rights movement, We Shall Overcome, although he said his contribution to the actual song was minimal.
In 1996, Seeger was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2014 became a Grammy Awards nominee in the Best Spoken Word category.
Every kid who ever sat around a campfire singing an old song is indebted in some way to Pete Seeger, said fellow folk singer Arlo Guthrie, son of Woody Guthrie, according to the AP.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
