Musician Peter Yarrow performs as part of the “Voices on The Hudson” series at City Vineyard on January 12, 2020 in New York City. Photo:
Al Pereira/Getty
Peter Yarrow’s cause of death has been revealed.
The Peter, Paul and Mary musician died of bladder cancer, with which he was diagnosed in 2021. Yarrow, 86, died at his home in New York City on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
The Grammy-winning folk singer-songwriter and activist had been “battling cancer for some time,” his son Christopher and daughter Bethany wrote in a statement shared in December, in which they asked fans and friends to leave living tributes for Yarrow.
“He has kept his doctors in awe at his resilience as he has continued to perform and live life in his own generous and cause-driven way. It has been a long road and he has been a strong dragon, but right now he is very weak and, at 86, his dragon days are numbered,” they wrote.
Mary Travers, Noel ‘Paul’ Stookey and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary perform on stage in the late 1960s. David Redfern/Redferns
In an interview he did this past summer with former NFL player Rolf Benirschke for The Phoenix Magazine, Yarrow opened up about living with an ostomy after having his bladder surgically removed during cancer treatments (An ostomy is a surgically created opening in the abdomen that allows waste or urine to leave the body, per the Mayo Clinic).
The singer said that after being diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2021, he underwent three months of chemotherapy — but “everything went wrong.”
“I had GI tract issues, rashes, terrible nausea, lost my appetite, and I lost 25 pounds… A lot for a slight man in my eighties,” he said.
It was at that point that Yarrow had his bladder removed — and learned his treatment was unsuccessful. His doctors then suggested he try a new immunotherapy that would not cure his cancer, but could prolong his life, and he went ahead.
Peter Yarrow attends the “While We’re Young” New York Premiere at Paris Theater on March 23, 2015 in New York City. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
“I was raring to go. I wanted to take on this cancer,” he told Benirschke. “I wanted the best shot and if my best shot was to go through what turned out to be another terribly punishing course of immunotherapy, I simply wanted to get on with it.”
Yarrow said he hoped that by speaking about his experience with cancer and with an ostomy, he could inspire others.
“It is my hope that my words and my story help to reassure my ostomy brothers and sisters. This is a challenge but life actually becomes brighter after you have an ostomy. For me, life has become more precious, present and rewarding,” he said.
American singer and songwriter Peter Yarrow performing at the Newport Folk Festival at Freebody Park on Rhode Island, USA, 23rd-26th July 1964. Gai Terrell/Redferns/Getty
Yarrow previously advocated for colonoscopies and early cancer screenings in 2010, when he wrote and performed “The Colonoscopy Song” on CBS’ The Early Show.
Just four days prior to his death, the star’s daughter Bethany wrote that Yarrow was “very weak physically, but his spirit is strong and his light is growing brighter every day.”
In December, she shared a photo of his Peter, Paul and Mary bandmate Noel Paul Stookey visiting him and reading a preview of his upcoming autobiography.
“A day of memories, presence, tears of gratitude and acknowledgement of all these years of brotherhood and adventure,” Bethany wrote.
