Peter Yarrow

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 impresiaro 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 molesting 14-year-old Barbara Winter, and sentenced to "one-to-three years" imprisonment, of which he only served three months after the term was suspended. He further received a federal pardon by president Jimmy Carter in 1981. Initially claiming that the act was consensual, Yarrow later apologized for the incident. Other allegations of sexual assault were made against him in 2021. 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. He died at his Upper West Side apartment at the age of 86 of bladder cancer.

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