Home Entertainment Controversial 60s folk legend who wrote Puff The Magic Dragon and always denied its meaning is dead at 86

Controversial 60s folk legend who wrote Puff The Magic Dragon and always denied its meaning is dead at 86

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Peter Yarrow, who was part of the legendary 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul, And Mary, best known for the iconic song Puff The Magic Dragon, has died aged 86; the trio appears in the 1968 photo

Peter Yarrow, who was part of the legendary 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul, And Mary, best known for the iconic song Puff The Magic Dragon, has died aged 86.

The controversial musician died after fighting bladder cancer for four years, his publicist confirmed.

He was the lead vocalist on the hit song Puff The Magic Dragon, which was released in 1960, as he denied for years that the song was about drugs, which is what many had believed.

Yarrow strongly denied that it was about drug use and has maintained that the song’s real meaning is about the difficulties of growing up.

The musician has previously said that the song “never had any meaning other than the obvious” and is about the “loss of innocence in children.”

Yarrow also became embroiled in controversy when he was sentenced to three months in jail for a 1969 incident in which the 14-year-old girl and her 17-year-old sister went to his hotel for an autograph and he answered the door naked.

Peter Yarrow, who was part of the legendary 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul, And Mary, best known for the iconic song Puff The Magic Dragon, has died aged 86; the trio appears in the 1968 photo

Peter Yarrow is seen performing in New York in July 2014.

Peter Yarrow is seen performing in New York in July 2014.

The teen said Yarrow had forced her to masturbate him until he ejaculated and eventually served three months of a one- to three-year prison sentence.

He apologized for the incident, explaining: ‘It was a time of real indiscretions and mistakes by categorically male artists. I was one of them. I got caught. I was wrong. I’m sorry.’

Former President Jimmy Carter pardoned Yarrow in 1981.

The other two members of Peter, Paul, And Mary were Paul Stookey, who played guitar and provided baritone vocals, and Mary Travers, who provided alto vocals.

Stookey is now the last surviving member of the group, as Mary Travers died at the age of 72 in 2009 amid a battle with leukemia.

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