Trivia

He wrote the song "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)", which was recorded by Judy Collins and later became a #1 hit for The Byrds in 1965. The lyrics were adapted from the Old Testament of the Bible; namely from the Book of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3, Verses 1-8.

Made an appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967) but the song he performed, "Waist Deep in The Big Muddy" (an allegory about the then-escalating Vietnam War), was deemed too controversial by the CBS network, and it was censored from the broadcast.

He was one of Bob Dylan's biggest advocates among the folk scene. When Dylan went "electric" (with a backing band) at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, however, Seeger was reported to be enraged and even, some claim, tried to severe the power to the amplifiers with an ax. Seeger, for his part, said this never happened but admitted to being annoyed at the time, not because Dylan was "turning his back" on folk music but because he and his friends couldn't hear any of the words over the rock music on what they felt was an overly loud, poorly mixed sound-system.

The inscription on his banjo reads: "This instrument surrounds hate and forces it to surrender."

Has performed with both Woody Guthrie and Arlo Guthrie.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 (under the category Early Influence).

He was a composer, lyricist, vocalist, and banjo player.

He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1994 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.

Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972.

Was part of a distinguished musical family. His parents were teacher and musicologist Charles Seeger and classical violinist Constance Edson. His half brother and sister were born to Charles and second wife composer Ruth Crawford Seeger, and are singers Mike Seeger and Peggy Seeger.

The Harry Chapin song, "Old Folkie", is a tribute to Seeger.

Father of Tinya V.S. Seeger and father-in-law of Shabazz A. Jackson of Beacon, New York; Grandfather of Moraya Seeger Jackson (born in 1988) and grandfather-in-law of Christopher Landis DeGeare of Minnesota.

His first child, a son, named Peter Ota Seeger born in 1944, died at six months of age, while Pete was deployed overseas.

Uncle Alan Seeger served in the Foreign Legion during World War I where he died at the Battle of The Somme in 1916. His fellow graduates from Harvard Class of 1910 were T.S. Eliot and Walter Lippmann.

He uncle Alan Seegere penned his most famous poem "I Have a Rendezvous With Death" before he himself fell during the Battle of The Somme.

He was named as a Communist by Burl Ives in 1952.

Was best friends with Arlo Guthrie.

Was an advocate of alternative fuel vehicles, and owned an electric pick-up truck.

Grandfather ran a well-off import-export business that stumbled in the 1890s forcing the family to move out of their palatial estate in Staten Island, New York.

Stepbrother-in-law of Ewan MacColl.

Stepuncle of Neil MacColl.

Pictured on a nondenominated USA commemorative postage stamp in the Music Icons series, issued 21 July 2022. Price on day of issue was 60¢.

Hudson Valley, New York (May 2006)

In 2014, Wepecket Island Records recorded a Pete Seeger tribute album called For Pete's Sake.

In 2020, Kronos Quartet released Long Time Passing, an album of all new arrangements of Pete Seeger's music commissioned by the FreshGrass Foundation and released on Smithsonian Folkways.