Pete Seeger.

In 1939, Pete Seeger met Woody Guthrie at a migrant worker benefit concert organized by Will Geer. Born on May 3, 1919, in Patterson, New York, to musicologist Charles Seeger and classical violinist Constance Edson, Seeger grew up surrounded by music. He attended Avon Old Farms School and then Harvard University, where he studied sociology but spent more time playing banjo and participating in the pacifist Harvard Student Union. He left Harvard in 1938, and a year later he met Guthrie.

Seeger co-founded the Almanac Singers in 1940 with Lee Hays, Pete Hawes, and Millard Lampell. The group sang for union and anti-war causes. After the Almanac Singers disbanded, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. In 1949 he formed the Weavers with Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Ronnie Gilbert. The Weavers had hits with Goodnight, Irene and On Top of Old Smoky before being blacklisted in the 1950s. Seeger wrote If I Had a Hammer and Turn! Turn! Turn!; the latter became a #1 hit for the Byrds in 1965. He also helped launch the Newport Folk Festival in the 1960s.

Pete Seeger married Toshi Seeger on July 20, 1943. They had three children: Peter Ota Seeger, who died at six months; Mika Seeger; and Tinya V.S. Seeger. His half-siblings include folk musicians Peggy Seeger and Mike Seeger. Seeger co-founded the Clearwater organization, which sails a boat on the Hudson River to educate about pollution.

Pete Seeger received the National Medal of Arts in 1994 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Early Influence induction in 1996. Artists from Judy Collins to the Byrds covered his songs. The Kronos Quartet released Long Time Passing in 2020, an album of Seeger’s music. He used music to advance social justice, environmentalism, and peace.