Facts about pete seeger biography

He grew up in an environment full of music and aggressive left-wing politics. His father Charles Seeger was one of the great figures of American musicology and ethnomusicology, an enthusiastic scholar of folk music and a proselyte for what he called "Proleterian Music". He was also constantly enmeshed in controversy because of his leftist political views.

Where was pete seeger born

Charles Seeger's second wife, Pete Seeger's stepmother, was the important avant-garde composer and compiler of folk songs Ruth Crawford Seeger. His half-brother Mike Seeger and half-sister Peggy Seeger also became distinguished folk musicians. Pete Seeger attended Harvard College for two years, where he studied sociology, but he dropped out in In , he joined with Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman to form The Weavers, one of the most successful and influential folk music groups ever.

The Weavers had hit recordings with the traditional song "On Top Of Old Smoky" and with Lead Belly's "Goodnight, Irene", but their left wing politics quickly became a point of controversy. Seeger had joined the Communist Party in and remained a member until around , and in the fierce political climate that started in the late s, he became increasingly under attack.

In he was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison, but on appeal his case was dismissed on a technicality. Pete Seeger has always been a socially conscious songwriter. The song quickly became the anthem of the movement. Since the end of the s, Seeger has been increasingly involved in the environment movement, another source of inspiration.

Seeger was widely honored during the later years of his life, winning both the National Medal of the Arts and the Kennedy Center Honors in Hal Leonard. Pete Seeger Inductee.