Pete Seeger

PETE SEEGER d2014. Influential American folk singer and a fixture on nationwide radio during the 1940s. He had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead Bellys "Goodnight Irene" which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950. Members of The Weavers were clacklisted during the McCarthy era. In the 1960s, he re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music supporting disarmament, civil rights and enviromental causes. As a song writer, he is best known as the author or co-author of Where have all The Flowers Gone / If I Had a Hammer and Turn Turn Turn which have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement and are still sung throughout the world. He was one of the folksingers most responsible for popularizing the spiritual "We Shall Overcome" which became the acknowledged anthem of the 1960s American Civil Rights Movement. Seeger states it was he who changed the lyric from the traditional "We will overcome" to the more singable "We shall overcome". At the incredible age of 94 he still made occasional concert appearances in 2013. He recently died aged 94 in 2014