May 04, 2009
Legendary Folk Singer & Activist Pete Seeger Turns 90, Thousands Turn Out for All-Star Tribute Featuring Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Bernice Johnson Reagon and Dozens More
Legendary folk singer, banjo player, storyteller, and political and environmental activist Pete Seeger turned ninety on Sunday. More than 18,000 people packed New York’s Madison Square Garden Sunday for a night of music in his honor. The all-star lineup included Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Ani DiFranco, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Billy Bragg, Ruby Dee, Steve Earle, Arlo Guthrie, Guy Davis, Dar Williams, Michael Franti, Bela Fleck, Tim Robbins, Dave Matthews, Rufus Wainwright, John Mellencamp, Ben Harper, and Ritchie Havens. We speak with some of the musicians, play Seeger’s music and play excerpts from our hour-long interview with Seeger in 2004.
Legendary folk singer, banjo player, storyteller, and political and environmental activist Pete Seeger turned 90 on Sunday.
More than 18,000 people packed New York’s Madison Square Garden Sunday for a night of music in his honor. The concert was also a benefit for an environmental group Seeger founded to preserve the Hudson river, the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.
The all-star lineup included Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, Ani DiFranco, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Billy Bragg, Ruby Dee, Steve Earle, Arlo Guthrie, Guy Davis, Dar Williams, Michael Franti, Bela Fleck, Tim Robbins, Dave Mathews, Rufus Wainwright, John Mellencamp, Ben Harper, and Ritchie Havens.
Pete Seeger has been an icon of American dissent and creative energy for almost 70 years.
He performed with Woody Guthrie and the Weavers in the 1940s. In the 1950s he opposed Senator Joseph McCarthy’s witch hunt and was almost jailed for refusing to answer questions before the House Un-American Activities Committee.
He helped popularize the civil rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome” and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. He was also a vocal critic of the Vietnam War and inspired a generation of protest singers. Later he became an important voice within the the environmental and anti-nuclear movements.
Pete Seeger is now 90 years old and continues to perform and be politically active.
Bruce Springsteen, who sang Woody Guthrie"s original version of “This Land is Your Land” with Pete Seeger at President Obama"s inauguration this year, headlined Sunday night’s concert and began with a moving tribute to Seeger.
Highlights from Pete Seeger 90th birthday tribute,
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