Peter Yarrow

Biography

Peter Yarrow (May 31, 1938 – January 7, 2025) was an American singer and songwriter who found fame as a member of the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary along with Paul Stookey and Mary Travers.

Born in Manhattan in 1938, he attended New York's High School of Music and Art as a teenager and was then accepted at Cornell University. During his last year at Cornell in 1959, he began his music career as a student guitar instructor there, and after graduating, met the manager and impresario Albert Grossman. Grossman's idea of a musical trio eventually led to Yarrow forming a folk band with Stookey and Travers.

Peter, Paul and Mary's early hits included "Lemon Tree" and "If I Had a Hammer", which was followed by their self-titled debut studio album in 1962. Yarrow co-wrote (with Lenny Lipton) one of the group's best known hits, "Puff, the Magic Dragon" (1963). He was also involved in the civil rights movement, performing for the March on Washington and Selma to Montgomery marches. In 1970, Yarrow was convicted of sexually abusing 14-year-old Barbara Winter and was imprisoned for three months; he later received a pardon from president Jimmy Carter.

Yarrow pursued a solo career in the 1970s, releasing his debut album, Peter, in 1972. He received awards for his continued activism. In the 2000s, he engaged in anti-bullying efforts in schools, for which helped start Operation Respect. Yarrow died of bladder cancer at his Upper West Side apartment in 2025.

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