Ground-breaking folk singer Mary Travers has passed away at the age of 72 after fighting leukaemia.
Mary Travers was born to a family of Southern journalists, with her early childhood being spent in Kentucky. Surrounded by music, Travers began singing after the family moved to New York’s Greenwich Village area.
Coming of age as the Village sprang into life, Mary Travers soon found herself drawn to the folk scene. Joining The Song Swappers the young performer worked with the legendary Pete Seeger on a number of recordings.
Becoming a solo star Mary Travers was then tempted to join an emerging duo. Re-naming themselves Peter, Paul and Mary the trio would go on to strike gold with their singles ‘If I Had A Hammer’ and ‘Lemon Tree’.
Pop versions of folk standards, these singles were a huge success and helped expose a generation to America’s traditional music. Sparking a massive folk revival the singles paved the way for Bob Dylan’s success and inspired a generation of young musicians.
However Peter, Paul And Mary didn’t operate without controversy. The trio’s next single ‘Puff (The Magic Dragon)’ was allegedly a hymn to marijuana use, which the band consistently denied.
After the break up of the trio Mary Travers went on to record a series of solo albums, before the reformation of Peter, Paul And Mary in 1978. The band continued to tour and record, being inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999.
Diagnosed with leukaemia in 2005, Mary Travers bravely fought the illness for four years. Given a bone marrow transplant the singer seemed to recover, before succumbing to complications arising from chemotherapy on September 16th.
Mary Travers is survived by her fourth husband and two daughters.
