Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary Passes Away at 86

Peter Yarrow, whose caring and righteous vocals for the trio Peter, Paul and Mary helped establish them as one of the most popular folk acts of the 1960s, died Tuesday at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was 86.

His death was confirmed by Ken Sunshine, his publicist. Sunshine mentioned that the cause was bladder cancer.

Yarrow’s voice was pivotal in many of the trio’s recordings, blending seamlessly with the gentle baritone of Noel Paul Stookey and the warm contralto of Mary Travers. He provided lead vocals for renowned songs such as ‘Puff the Magic Dragon,’ ‘Day Is Done,’ and ‘The Great Mandala,’ all of which he either wrote or co-wrote. ‘Puff the Magic Dragon’ reached No. 2 on the Billboard chart, while ‘Day Is Done’ grazed the Top 20.

Peter, Paul and Mary reached the Billboard Top 40 twelve times during their peak years, with six songs making it to the Top 10. Their cover of John Denver’s ‘Leavin’ on a Jet Plane’ climbed to No. 1, contributing to five Billboard Top 10 albums and two chart-topping records.

In addition to their musical contributions, Yarrow and the group were also recognized for their progressive political activism. They participated in the March on Washington in August 1963, a pivotal event in the American Civil Rights Movement, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.

Born on May 31, 1938, in Manhattan, Yarrow was raised by Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. He began performing music publicly during his senior year at Cornell University, which eventually led him to become one of America’s most celebrated folk musicians after founding Peter, Paul, and Mary.

Yarrow married Marybeth McCarthy in 1969, a niece of Democratic presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy. Despite their divorce, the couple remarried in 2022. He is survived by a son, Christopher; a daughter, Bethany; and a granddaughter.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.