Mary Travers

Folk singer Mary Travers dies at 72

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Sep 17, 2009 04:30 AM

DANBURY, Conn.–Mary Travers, one-third of the hugely popular 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, has died.

Travers, 72, had battled leukemia for several years.

Travers joined forces with Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey in the early 1960s.

The trio mingled their music with liberal politics, onstage and off. Their version of "If I Had a Hammer" became an anthem for racial equality.

They were vehement in their opposition to the Vietnam War, managing to stay true to their liberal beliefs while creating music that resonated in the U.S. mainstream.

The group collected five Grammy Awards for their three-part harmony on enduring songs like "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" and "Blowin' in the Wind."

At one point in 1963, three of their albums were in the top six Billboard best-selling LPs as they became the biggest stars of the folk revival movement. It was heady stuff for a trio that had formed in the early 1960s in Greenwich Village, running through simple tunes like "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

They disbanded in 1971, launching solo careers – Travers released five albums – that never achieved the heights of their collaborations.

In 2005, Travers had undergone a successful bone marrow transplant to treat her leukemia and was able to return to performing.

But by mid-2009, Yarrow said, her condition had worsened and he thought she could no longer perform.

Associated Press