updated 8:54 AM EST, Tue January 28, 2014
Legendary folk singer and political activist Pete Seeger died of natural causes on January 27, his grandson told CNN. He was 94. Pictured, Seeger performs on stage in 1970.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Pete Seeger dies of natural causes in a New York hospital, his family says
- His career spanned more than 70 years, often courting controversy
- He is known for songs like "Where Have All the Flowers Gone"
(CNN) -- Pete Seeger, the man considered to be one of the pioneers of contemporary folk music who inspired legions of activist singer-songwriters, died Monday.
He was 94.
Seeger's best known songs include "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" and "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)."
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Seeger, Woody Guthrie and their entire generation had a life long effect on all of us.
When this nascent musician was first getting stared playing folk guitar in the earlyl 1960's, it was via these influences, Sing Out Magazine, Peter, Paul and Mary and a lively folks music scene here in Chicago that brought it all to life.
With the Earl of Old Town on Wells Street and the Old Town School of Folk Music on North Avenue, artists of this genreation were readily available and an inspitation to us all.
Remember these lasting words -
Sing Out for the Lord to Help You, for the Lord is Mighty Strong,
Don't worry about your heavy load, for the Lord's gonna help you along.
RIP Pete.
However, there is a dark side to Pete Seeger, one that is airbrushed out of all the effusive hagiography. Seeger was a dedicated Stalinist and has not renounced his devotion to communism, a political ideology, which according to the Black Book of Communism, responsible for the murder of over 94 million people. When you speak out against communism you get booed, when you’re a cheerleader for its mass murderers you get a Kennedy Center tribute and presidential praise.
Seeger was a member of the Communist Party from the 1930s through the 1950s. He left the party but never gave up the faith. He told the Washington Post in 1995 “I am still a communist.” Like his comrades and fellow travelers Seeger twisted and turned with every pronouncement from Moscow. Seeger supported the Nazi-Soviet Pact, a curious position for a noted “anti-fascist.” In 1941 Seeger along with Guthrie was a member of the Almanac Singers, a communist folk group. The group put out the anti-war album Songs from John Doe, containing songs that labeled Franklin Roosevelt a war monger.
