The Kingston Trio

THE KINGSTON TRIO. American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to the late 1960s. It rose to international popularity fueled by unprecedented sales of LP records and helped alter the direction of popular music in the US. The Kingston Trio was one of the most prominent groups of the era's pop-folk boom (which they kick-started in 1958) with the release of their eponymous first album and hit recording of "Tom Dooley", which became a No1 hit and sold over three million copies as a single. They released nineteen albums that made Billboard's Top 100 (fourteen of which ranked in the Top10) and five of which hit the No1 spot. Four of the group's LPs charted among the 10 top-selling albums for five weeks in November and December 1959, a record unmatched for more than 50 years. In 1961, they were described as "the most envied, the most imitated and the most successful singing group, folk or otherwise, in all show business" and "the undisputed kings of the folksinging rage by every yardstick". John Stewart died in California aged 68 on January 19th 2008. Nick Reynolds died in California aged 75 on October 1st 2008. Bob Shane died in Arizona aged 85 on January 26th 2020