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• Pete Seeger is a popular folk singer, author and activist. His is credited for preserving America's folk music tradition and for having co-written the songs "Where Have All The Flowers Gone," "Turn, Turn, Turn" and "The Hammer Song."

  Seegar was honored with a concert on May 3, 2009, in Madison Square Garden in New York in honor of his 90th birthday. Celebrities such as Bruce Springsteen, Kris Kristofferson and Arlo Guthrie attended the celebration.CBC: Concert celebrates folk icon Pete Seeger (May 3, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Born: May 3, 1919
  2. Birthplace: New York City
  3. Active: 1940-present
  4. Father, Charles Seeger, was a composer
  5. Mother, Constance de Clyver Edson, was a music teacher
  6. Stepmother, Ruth Crawford Seeger, was a composer
  7. 1936: Joined the Young Communist League
  8. 1948: Wrote the book How to Play the Five-String Banjo
  9. 1966: Co-founded the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater environmental organization
  10. Received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993
  11. Was the subject of a Bruce Springsteen tribute album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
  12. Spouse: Toshi-Aline Ohta
  13. Three children: Daniel, Mika and Tinya

• Early Career

  Seeger's early career included stints in the folk music groups the Almanac Singers, with Woody Guthrie and The Weavers, who had a string of mainstream hits including a 1949 recording of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene." The Weavers were disbanded when the group and its members were blacklisted during the McCarthy era.

• Activism

  Seeger, a former member of the Communist Party of the United States and union activist, was subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1955. Seeger refused to name his personal and political associations and, years later, was convicted for contempt of Congress for his actions. Seeger's political activism didn't end there. He has been associated with environmental, pro-union, Civil Rights and anti-war movements.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  The Power of Song | Woody Guthrie | Arlo Guthrie | Bob Dylan | The Byrds | Neil Young | Gordon Lightfoot | Odetta Holmes

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