Peter, Paul and Mary | |
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 Left to right: Paul Stookey, Peter Yarrow, and Mary Travers, c. 1968 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Discography | Peter, Paul and Mary discography |
| Years active |
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| Labels | Warner Bros. |
| Past members | |
| Website | peterpaulandmary |
Peter, Paul and Mary were an Americanfolk group formed in New York City in 1961 during theAmerican folk music revival. The trio consisted ofPeter Yarrow (guitar,tenor vocals),Paul Stookey (guitar,baritone vocals), andMary Travers (contralto vocals).[1] The group's repertoire included songs written by Yarrow, Luis Manuel and Stookey, early songs byBob Dylan, and covers of other folk musicians.
They were very successful in the early- and mid-1960s, with their debut album topping the charts for weeks, and helped popularize the folk music revival. Following Travers's death in 2009, Yarrow and Stookey continued to perform as a duo.[2] Yarrow died in 2025, leaving Stookey the sole surviving member of the group.
Travers said she was influenced byWoody Guthrie,Pete Seeger, andthe Weavers.[3] In May 1963, Stookey described the formation and dynamics of the group on Folk Music Worldwide, an international short-wave radio show in New York City.[4][5] In the 2004 documentaryPeter, Paul & Mary: Carry It On – A Musical Legacy, members of the Weavers discuss how Peter, Paul and Mary took over the torch of the social commentary of folk music in the 1960s.
The group was inducted into theVocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. Peter, Paul and Mary received theSammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award from theSongwriters Hall of Fame in 2006.
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ManagerAlbert Grossman created Peter, Paul and Mary in 1961, after auditioning several singers in the New York folk scene, includingDave Van Ronk, who was rejected as too idiosyncratic and uncommercial, andCarolyn Hester. After rehearsing Yarrow, Stookey and Travers out of town in Boston and Miami, Grossman booked them intoThe Bitter End, a coffee house, nightclub and popularfolk music venue in New York City'sGreenwich Village.
The group recorded their debut album,Peter, Paul and Mary, and it was released by Warner Bros. the following year. It included "Lemon Tree", "500 Miles", and thePete Seeger hit tunes "If I Had a Hammer" (subtitled "The Hammer Song") and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" The album was listed in theBillboard Top Ten for 10 months, including seven weeks in the No. 1 position. It remained a main catalog-seller for decades to come, eventually selling over two million copies, earningdouble platinum certification from theRIAA in the United States alone.
In 1963 the group released "Puff, the Magic Dragon", with music by Yarrow and words based on a poem that had been written by a fellow student atCornell,Leonard Lipton.[6] Despite rumors that the song refers to drugs, it is actually about the lost innocence of childhood.[7] The same year, they appeared as the "mystery guest" on theCBS TV game showWhat's My Line? in whichDorothy Kilgallen correctly guessed their identity.[8]
That year the group performed "If I Had a Hammer" and "Blowin' in the Wind" at the August 1963March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, best remembered forMartin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. TheBob Dylan song "Blowin' in the Wind" was one of their biggest hit singles.[9] They also sang other Dylan songs, such as "The Times They Are a-Changin'", "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right",[9] and "When the Ship Comes In". Their success with Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" helped Dylan'sThe Freewheelin' Bob Dylan album rise into the top 30; it had been released four months earlier.[10] In 1963 while inLondon, on one or possibly more occasions they recorded 5 songs in front of a live television audience for the UK regional television folk and blues music seriesHullabaloo, presented by the Scottish folksingerRory McEwen; these sessions were released on DVD in 2020.[11]
In December 1969 "Leaving on a Jet Plane", written by the group's friendJohn Denver, became their only No. 1 single (as well as their final top 40 pop hit) and the group's sixth million-selling gold single. The track first appeared on their million-selling platinum certifiedAlbum 1700 in 1967 (which also contained their No. 9 hit "I Dig Rock and Roll Music"). AfterEugene McCarthy's strong showing in the 1968New Hampshire presidential primary, the group recorded "Eugene McCarthy For President (If You Love Your Country)" endorsing McCarthy, which was released without a record label.[12] "Day Is Done", a No. 21 hit in June 1969 from the trio's Grammy Award-winning albumPeter, Paul and Mommy, was the last Hot 100 hit the trio recorded.
The trio broke up in 1970 to pursue solo careers. Also that year, Yarrow was convicted of sexually molesting a 14-year-old girl. Years later, he received apresidential pardon fromJimmy Carter.[13][14][15]
During 1971 and 1972 Warner released a debut solo album, with the same style cover, by each member of the group. Travers did concerts and lectures across the United States. She also produced, wrote, and starred in a BBC-TV series. Stookey formed a Christian music group, the Body Works Band, and wrote "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)" for Yarrow's marriage to Marybeth McCarthy, the niece ofEugene McCarthy. Britain'sPetula Clark also recorded a version of the song, which in 1973 charted strongly in the UK, Australia and elsewhere. Yarrow co-wrote and produced Mary MacGregor'sTorn Between Two Lovers (No. 1, 1977) and earned an Emmy for three animated TV specials based on "Puff the Magic Dragon".[16]
While the group was de facto broken up and touring separately, it still managed to come together for a series of reunions before officially coming back together again. In 1972, the trio reunited forTogether for McGovern, a concert atMadison Square Garden to supportGeorge McGovern's presidential campaign, and again in 1978 for a concert to protestnuclear energy. This concert was followed by a 1978 summer reunion tour, including a September 3 evening performance atRed Rocks Amphitheatre. An album,Reunion, was released by Warner in 1978.[17]
Their 1978 summer reunion tour was so popular that the group decided to reunite more or less permanently in 1981. They continued to record albums and tour, playing around 45 shows a year, until Travers's 2009 death.[18] After their reunion, double-bassist Dick Kniss (who had been their bassist in their studio recordings and with their 1960s tours) rejoined the group. Starting in 1990, multi-instrumentalistPaul Prestopino also joined the group.
According to the flow of the times, they derived a way to change the lyrics of their songs, for example changingboys in the "Puff" becamegirls and boys. The trio received the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience award on September 1, 1990.[19]
In 2004, Travers was diagnosed withleukemia, leading to the cancellation of that year's remaining tour dates. She received abone marrow transplant. She and the rest of the trio resumed their tour on December 9, 2005, with a holiday performance atCarnegie Hall.
The trio canceled several dates of their summer 2007 tour, as Travers had to undergo a second surgery.[18] She was unable to perform on the trio's tour in mid-2009 because of the effects of leukemia, but Yarrow and Stookey performed the scheduled dates as a duo, calling the show "Peter & Paul Celebrate Mary and 5 Decades of Friendship".
On September 16, 2009, Travers died at age 72, of complications fromchemotherapy, following treatment for leukemia.[20] That same year, Peter, Paul and Mary were inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
On January 7, 2025, Yarrow died of bladder cancer at age 86.[21] With his death, Stookey is the last surviving member of the group.[22]
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