Peter Yarrow, Of Folk Trio Peter, Paul and Mary Dead At 86

Peter Yarrow of the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary has died at the age of 86 following a four-year battle with bladder cancer, his publicist Ken Sunshine confirmed.

The singer-songwriter — best known for writing hit songs for the musical group like “Puff the Magic Dragon” and “Light One Candle” — passed away at his home in New York City on Tuesday, People magazine reported.

“Our fearless dragon is tired and has entered the last chapter of his magnificent life,” Yarrow’s daughter Bethany said in a statement to the Associated Press. “The world knows Peter Yarrow the iconic folk activist, but the human being behind the legend is every bit as generous, creative, passionate, playful, and wise as his lyrics suggest.”

In a recent post on Instagram from both Yarrow’s kids, Christopher and Bethany, the two noted that the end of his life was near.

“He has kept his doctors in awe at his resilience as he has continued to perform and live life in his own generous and cause-driven way,” the statement in December read.

“It has been a long road and he has been a strong dragon, but right now he is very weak, and, at 86, his dragon days are numbered,” it added. “There is Peter Yarrow the folk activist legend, and then there is the man, a deeply compassionate man, who changed the lives of so many people in very personal ways.”

Peter Yarrow, legendary Peter, Paul and Mary singer, dead at 86 https://t.co/zv64Qk1yDy pic.twitter.com/tYv6yXz6Z0

— New York Post (@nypost) January 7, 2025

In the 1960s Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers formed the trio band and over the next decade had numerous top ten hits, like their cover of John Denver’s “Leavin’ on a Jet Plane” that hit number one, two number one albums and took home five Grammy Awards, the AP noted.

Born in Manhattan, Yarrow recalled first hearing purpose-driven music in high school which would eventually lead him to New York City where he met the Stookey and Travers.

“When I was in high school,” he wrote. “I heard The Weavers at Carnegie Hall singing songs like ‘If I Had a Hammer’ ‘Follow The Drinking Gourd’ and ‘Wasn’t That a Time.’ I was stunned by the extraordinary effect that music of conscience can have on people, particularly when they sing songs of conscience together.”

The trio formed their group in 1961 and a year later their self-titled debut album topped the charts with hits like “Lemon Tree” and “If I Had a Hammer,” People magazine noted.

That music of conscience would lead the group to perform during such civil rights movements as the March on Washington in 1963 led by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Selma-Montgomery March two years later. 

In 1970, the group split after a 14-year-old girl accused Yarrow of making sexual advances towards her, the New York Times reported. He pleaded guilty to taking “indecent liberties” with the girl who had come to his dressing room to get an autograph. He ended up serving 3 months of his one-to-three-year prison sentence. The band would later reunite and continue performing together.

He is survived by his wife Marybeth McCarthy along with his two kids and a granddaughter.