Throughout his life, he stood behind progressive causes from labor rights to the environment.
His rendition of “We Shall Overcome” became the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. Seeger wrote such famous songs as “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” “If I Had a Hammer” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!,” the latter which became a massive hit for the rock group the Byrds in 1965. Woody showed me how to hitchhike and how to ride freight trains, how to sing in saloons." “The words that came out of his mouth and the music he made all flowed together with the life that he had led,” Seeger told NPR's Fresh Air in 1985 about Guthrie, “and I was greatly attracted to it and kind of tagged along after him for several months. After dropping out of Harvard in 1938, Seeger pursued folk music and met key figures in the genre such as Alan Lomax, Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly. Led by his ringing tenor voice and emblematic five-string banjo, his sing-along concerts mixed traditional songs and Seeger originals like “If I Had a Hammer” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” During his long career, the charismatic and idealistic performer became a folk hero to generations.”īorn in New York City on May 3, 1919, Seeger came from a musical background his father Charles Seeger was a musicologist and his stepmother was an avant-garde composer. His adaptation of “We Shall Overcome” became a civil rights anthem. In a press release, the Postal Service stated: “Pete Seeger (1919-2014) promoted the unifying power of voices joined in song to address social issues.
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