Peter Yarrow died following his four-year battle with bladder cancer on Tuesday, January 7, his rep Ken Sunshine confirmed to multiple outlets. The singer-songwriter was 86 years old.
“Our fearless dragon is tired and has entered the last chapter of his magnificent life. 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,” Pete’s daughter, Bethany Yarrow, said in a statement, per CBS News.
In addition to Bethany, the Peter, Paul and Mary folk group member also has a son named Christopher Yarrow, whom he shared with ex-wife Mary Beth McCarthy.
Bethany and Christopher hinted that their father was reaching his final days in a heartfelt and lengthy Instagram post on December 6, 2024. They gushed that the “Puff the Magic Dragon” singer “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.”
“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,” the siblings wrote at the time.
Later in the post, they asked Peter’s close friends and family to share personal messages about their relationships and experiences with their father.
“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,” the siblings wrote. “Please share your stories and messages at the link above. They will be shared with Peter now and added to his website as a living tribute. Thank you for taking the time to honor him and contribute to this collective reflection of his spectacular, inspiring, singular LIFE.”
They later added, “These words and contributions are more than just stories – they are his true legacy which will endure long after he is gone. Puff the Magic Dragon is forever.”
Peter used his Grammy-winning talents and name for good and gave back charitable contributions to his peers. In 1999, Peter cofounded the nonprofit organization Operation Respect, which prevents bullying in schools.
In 2016, Peter announced the Don’t Laugh At Me initiative, which Operation Respect implemented cost-free at schools.
“Operation Respect teaches children and young people to express and manage their feelings, build community with each other, resolve conflict peacefully, and, most importantly, to celebrate the diversity which enriches all our lives!” the conductor wrote via Facebook at the time. “It creates safe, compassionate places of learning in which children do not have to be afraid of hatred and violence or the kind of discrimination we fear in these times. And our tools and resources are free of cost for everyone!
Peter served the generations who came after him – like the time he briefly taught a folk course at Cornell.
“That’s the real reason I entered the folk field, because in that class I saw the transformational power folk music had,” he told Westword in 2015. “It was a very, very backward time in our country, and certainly on the Ivy League campuses. When the kids at the college took this course, their humanity emerged, and it was palatable and clear. I was in tune with the fact that the world was going to go through a big change and that folk music was going to become an important part of it. It became the soundtrack of that change.”
