Folk music legend Pete Seeger has died at the age of 94, it was announced this afternoon. He passed away due to natural causes in a New York hospital.
Seeger will forever be regarded as one of the true pioneers of socially conscious folk music, being a vital part of the American music landscape since his beginnings in the 1940s alongside fellow folk troubadour trailblazers such as Woody Guthrie, with whom he would travel.
While his pop success was somewhat fleeting – a string songs in the charts in the 1950s with his band The Weavers are about the extent of it – he remains one of the most influential musicians of all time, thanks to his unwavering support of social and environmental causes.
The 1960s saw him become one of the most vibrant and well-recognised protest singers on the planet as he campaigned heavily against the Vietnam War and president Lyndon Johnson.
Perhaps one of Seeger's greatest legacies of all was his championing of a young Bob Dylan, with Seeger being one of Dylan's greatest supporters from the outset of his career. He also introduced a great deal of folk music to the people of America via his legendary Rainbow Quest television show.
