US folk singer Mary Travers dies
Updated on 17 September 2009
Mary Travers, a member of the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, has died, aged 72, after a long battle with leukemia. Keme Nzerem reports.
Travers was one-third of the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary. They helped popularise the work of Bob Dylan, and their hits included Puff, The Magic Dragon), and If I Had a Hammer.
A statement on the group's website on Wednesday said Travers succumbed "to the side effects of one of the chemotherapy treatments" she was undergoing to fight cancer.
Bandmate Peter Yarrow said that in her last months, Travers handled her declining health "in the bravest, most generous way imaginable."
Throughout her long career, he said, Travers sang with honesty and complete authenticity.
Known for her strong voice and long, blonde hair, Travers performed alongside guitarists Yarrow and Noel "Paul" Stookey in one of folk music's most popular acts.
The group's version of Blowin' in the Wind by a young Bob Dylan helped transform the song into a civil rights anthem and introduced his music to a wider audience.
The trio's members were also noted for their political activism.
They performed at the 1963 civil rights march on Washington and at demonstrations protesting the Vietnam war.
Travers kept up her activism after Peter, Paul and Mary broke up in the early 1970s.
She performed as a solo artist before the trio reunited later for benefits and other concerts.
