Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary dead at 86

Peter Yarrow, one third of the beloved folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, whose anthems epitomized the 1960s protest movement, died Tuesday in New York. He was 86.

His longtime publicist told AFP that Yarrow, the songwriter behind hits like "Puff the Magic Dragon," had been battling bladder cancer for four years.

"Our fearless dragon is tired and has entered the last chapter of his magnificent life," Yarrow's daughter, Bethany, said in a statement.

"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," she continued. "He always believed, with his whole heart, that singing together could change the world."

Yarrow, along with bandmates Mary Travers and Noel "Paul" Stookey, burst onto the American folk music scene in 1961, their style marked by rich three-part harmonies and progressive activist politics.

Born May 31, 1938, in Manhattan to Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, Yarrow studied painting before turning to singing and guitar as a student at Cornell University. After graduation, he moved to New York, where he became a regular on Greenwich Village's burgeoning folk scene.

The band's self-titled 1962 debut reigned over U.S. charts and sold more than two million copies. Their rendition of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" became an iconic protest song, and Peter, Paul and Mary performed it at the 1963 civil rights March on Washington. Their version of "If I Had a Hammer," written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays, earned them two of their five Grammy wins.

Their other hits included "Day Is Done," "The Great Mandala," and a chart-topping cover of John Denver's "Leavin' on a Jet Plane."

However, the trio disbanded in 1970, partly to pursue solo work and partly due to a scandal involving Yarrow. He was convicted of taking "indecent liberties" with a 14-year-old girl, for which he served three months in prison. He was controversially pardoned in 1981 by President Jimmy Carter.

The incident followed Yarrow throughout his life, and in 2019, during the #MeToo movement, a performance at a New York arts festival was canceled due to protests. Yarrow later expressed remorse, stating, "I do not seek to minimize or excuse what I have done and I cannot adequately express my apologies and sorrow for the pain and injury I have caused."

Neither Yarrow nor his bandmates reached the same level of fame as solo artists as they did together, but they reunited for occasional shows and toured regularly throughout the late 20th century. The group performed their final show together in May 2009, after Travers' death from cancer.

In a statement, the last surviving band member, Stookey, remembered Yarrow as his "creative, irrepressible, spontaneous and musical younger brother." He added, "Politically astute and emotionally vulnerable, perhaps Peter was both of the brothers I never had. I shall deeply miss both of him."