Peter, Paul and Mary singer, who wrote Puff The Magic Dragon, dies aged 86

Singer-songwriter Peter Yarrow, most recognised for being a member of the folk music group Peter, Paul and Mary, has passed away at the age of 86.

The group were peace and human rights activists, most famous for the song Puff The Magic Dragon, along with their covers of If I Had A Hammer and Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

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

"Our brave dragon is very tired and has reached the final chapter of its truly remarkable life," Yarrow's daughter, Bethany, said in a statement.

Peter Yarrow, known worldwide for his activism with folk music, is in reality just as kind, imaginative, enthusiastic, mischievous, and perceptive as his words convey.

During a successful period in the 1960s, Peter, Paul and Mary - Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey and Mary Travers - released six singles that reached the top 10 on the Billboard charts and two number one albums, and they were awarded five Grammy awards.

Puff, the Magic Dragon, their most famous song, was penned by Yarrow, who adapted it from a poem by Leonard Lipton.

It tells the story of Jackie Paper, a young boy who has exciting adventures with his fantastical dragon friend until he loses interest in those childish fantasies.

Several people thought the song was about drugs, but Yarrow consistently stated that it was actually about losing innocence and nothing more.

choosing to feature his song Blowin' In The Wind and performing it at the 1963 march on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his notable "I Have a Dream" address.

Yarrow was involved in the stories surrounding the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, where Dylan faced booing from some attendees for performing with an electric band. As a member of the festival board and emcee, Peter, Paul and Mary's Pete Yarrow appealed to Dylan to return on stage for another song after his set.

Dylan picked up his acoustic guitar and played "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue".

The scene is featured in the 2024 biopic, A Complete Unknown, in which Timothee Chalamet stars, having previously gained a Golden Globe nomination for his acting.

In 1969, Peter, Paul and Mary recorded their final number one hit, a cover of John Denver's 'Leaving On A Jet Plane', immediately prior to their dissolution the following year in order to embark on individual careers.

In that year, Yarrow pleaded guilty to an incident relating to a 14-year-old girl, who had gone with her older sister to his hotel room to request autographs. The pair encountered him naked when he opened the door.

Yarrow resumed his career after spending three months in prison, and was later granted amnesty by President Jimmy Carter. He offered numerous apologies in the years that followed.

Peter, Paul and Mary reunited in 1978 for Survival Sunday, an anti-nuclear power concert in London organised by Yarrow, and continued to perform together until Travers' passing in 2009.

The two men went on to perform both individually and in tandem.

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