death_date background birth_date genre associated_acts death_place notable_instruments image_size instrument image name occupation caption years_active birth_place label landscape article_title birth_name
27 january 2014 solo_singer 3 may 1919 american folk music , protest music , americana the , arlo guthrie , tao rodríguez-seeger , lead belly , weavers harp -lrb- holly near , arlo guthrie , ronnie gilbert , & pete seeger -rrb- the almanac singers , woody guthrie new york city vega 12-string guitar bruce a. taylor 12-string guitar martin jso sing pete out 60th pete seeger guitar , martin j12so sing out seeger 60th pete seeger guitar model longneck banjo g. stanley francis 250 banjo mandolin , piano , ukulele , guitar , recorder , tin whistle , pete seeger2 - 6-16-07 photo by anthony pepitone.jpg pete seeger musician , songwriter , television host seeger at the clearwater festival in june 2007 1939 -- 2014 patterson , new york folkways kids ' , sme , columbia , cbs , vanguard , sony no pete seeger
 peter seeger
pete seeger

peter `` pete '' seeger -lrb- may 3 , 1919 -- january 27 , 2014 -rrb- was an american folk singer and activist .
a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s , he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the weavers , most notably their recording of lead belly 's `` goodnight , irene '' , which topped the charts for 13 weeks in 1950 .
members of the weavers were blacklisted during the mccarthy era .
in the 1960s , he re-emerged on the public scene as a prominent singer of protest music in support of international disarmament , civil rights , counterculture and environmental causes .
a prolific songwriter , his best-known songs include `` where have all the flowers gone ? ''
-lrb- with joe hickerson -rrb- , `` if i had a hammer -lrb- the hammer song -rrb- '' -lrb- with lee hays of the weavers -rrb- , and `` turn !
turn !
turn ! ''
-lrb- lyrics adapted from ecclesiastes -rrb- , which have been recorded by many artists both in and outside the folk revival movement and are sung throughout the world .
`` flowers '' was a hit recording for the kingston trio -lrb- 1962 -rrb- ; marlene dietrich , who recorded it in english , german and french -lrb- 1962 -rrb- ; and johnny rivers -lrb- 1965 -rrb- .
`` if i had a hammer '' was a hit for peter , paul & mary -lrb- 1962 -rrb- and trini lopez -lrb- 1963 -rrb- , while the byrds had a number one hit with `` turn !
turn !
turn ! ''
in 1965 .
seeger was one of the folksingers most responsible for popularizing the spiritual `` we shall overcome '' -lrb- also recorded by joan baez and many other singer-activists -rrb- that became the acknowledged anthem of the 1960s american civil rights movement , soon after folk singer and activist guy carawan introduced it at the founding meeting of the student nonviolent coordinating committee -lrb- sncc -rrb- in 1960 .
in the pbs `` american masters '' episode '' '' , seeger stated it was he who changed the lyric from the traditional `` we will overcome '' to the more singable `` we shall overcome '' .
