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Singer and songwriter Peter Yarrow, best known as a founding member of the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, has died at the age of 86 following a battle with bladder cancer, a publicist confirmed to the Guardian on Tuesday (January 7).
Yarrow served as the lead vocalist on the songs 'Puff the Magic Dragon, 'The Great Mandala' and 'Day Is Done,' all of which he wrote or co-wrote with bandmate Noel Paul Stookey, for the trio, which had six U.S. Top 10 singles, five top 10 albums and one No. 1, a cover of John Denver's 'Leavin' on a Jet Plane' during the 1960s. Stookey is the last surviving member of Peter, Paul and Mary, with bandmate Mary Travers having died in September 2009 and Yarrow and Stookey continuing to perform as a duo under their names.
The progressive trio was also heavily involved in politics, having performed a cover of Bob Dylan's 'Blowin' In The Wind' on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s March on Washington on August 28, 1963, where King delivered his historic 'I Have a Dream' speech. In 1970, Yarrow was convicted of "taking indecent liberties with a then-14-year-old Barbara Winter, who went to Yarrow's hotel with her then-17-year-old sister seeking an autograph.
Yarrow served three months of a 1-3 year prison sentence before later being granted a presidential pardon by Jimmy Carter on January 19, 1981, one day prior to the conclusion of Carter's presidency.