Peter, Paul and Mary singer Peter Yarrow, who wrote Puff The Magic Dragon, dies aged 86 | Ents & Arts News

Singer-songwriter Peter Yarrow, best known as one-third of the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, has died at the age of 86.

The group were civil rights and anti-war campaigners, best known for the song Puff The Magic Dragon and their versions of If I Had A Hammer and Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

Yarrow, who was diagnosed with cancer of the bladder four years ago, died in New York on Tuesday, publicist Ken Sunshine said.

“Our fearless dragon is tired and has entered the last chapter of his magnificent life,” Yarrow’s daughter, Bethany, said in a statement.

“The world knows Peter Yarrow the iconic folk activist, but the human being behind the legend is every bit as generous, creative, passionate, playful, and wise as his lyrics suggest.”

During a run of success in the 1960s, Peter, Paul and Mary – Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers – released six billboard top 10 singles and two number one albums, and won five Grammys.

Puff The Magic Dragon, their most famous song, was written by Yarrow based on a poem by Leonard Lipton.

It tells the tale of Jackie Paper, a young boy who has adventures with his make-believe dragon friend until he outgrows his childhood fantasies.

Many believed the song was about drugs, but Yarrow always maintained it reflected the loss of childhood innocence and nothing more.

Peter, Paul and Mary also brought early exposure to Bob Dylan, covering his song Blowin’ In The Wind and performing it at the 1963 march on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

Yarrow played a part in the story of the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, when Dylan was booed by some for performing with a rock band and electric instruments. The Peter, Paul and Mary star, who was on the festival board and compering the event, begged the musician to return to play another song after his set.

Dylan took his acoustic guitar and played It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.

The scene is captured in the 2024 biopic, A Complete Unknown, starring Timothee Chalamet, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.

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Peter, Paul and Mary recorded their last number one hit, a cover of John Denver’s Leaving On A Jet Plane, in 1969, before splitting up the following year to pursue solo careers.

In that year, Yarrow pleaded guilty to an incident involving a 14-year-old girl, who had gone to his hotel room with her older sister to ask for autographs. The pair found him naked when he answered the door.

Yarrow resumed his career after serving three months in jail, and was later pardoned by president Jimmy Carter. He apologised repeatedly in the years afterwards.

Peter, Paul and Mary reunited in 1978 for Survival Sunday, an anti-nuclear power concert in Los Angeles organised by Yarrow, and continued to play together until Travers’ death in 2009.

The two men then continued to perform both separately and together.

Yarrow leaves behind his wife Mary Beth, daughter Bethany and son, Christopher, as well as a granddaughter, Valentina.