The Weavers singer and social activist Ronnie Gilbert died June 6 in Mill Valley, California at the age of 88. The music industry's tragic loss was confirmed by Donna Korones, Gilbert's partner.
The Brooklyn-native was born in 1926 and the only female member of the band, The Weavers, which she formed with Peter Seeger, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman in 1947. They became popular in the U.S. as folk singers with their hits "Hush Little Baby," "On Top of Old Smoky," and "Good night, Irene."
In the 1982 documentary, "The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time," Gilbert shared that their band "sang songs of hope in that strange time after World War II, when already the world was preparing for Cold War."
She added that they wanted to produce music to touch lives. "We still had the feeling that if we could sing loud enough and strong enough and hopefully enough, it would make a difference."
The band's musicality has paved the way for artists like Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, and the Kingston Trio to also make a name for themselves in the industry.
After briefly disbanding due to being banned in 1952 for their communist party affiliations, the band continued playing live from 1955 to 1964.
The Weavers' last performance was at their sold-out concert in 1980 at the Carnegie Hall. The music group also performed renditions of folk hits from other cultures like Africa's "Wimowen" and Israel's "Shalom Chaverim."
Gilbert then went solo, recorded albums and performed in Broadway shows until the '90s.
Also a clinical psychologist, Gilbert had a daughter, Lisa and is a grandmother of one. The artist wed her long-time manager in 2004, following her divorce and the legalization of same-sex marriage in California.
Fellow music artists are deeply saddened by the folk legend's death. Folk artist Arlo Guthrie posted on Facebook saying, "what a great and talented gal who I've known pretty much all my life. She was one fourth of The Weavers, which in and of itself would have qualified her with a badge of courage, but she also continued throughout her life to stand as a beacon for anyone hoping to make the world a little more equal and normal for those too often told to stay on the fringes of society. "
Her auto-biography, "Ronnie Gilbert: A Radical Life In Song" is set to be published within this year by the University of California Press.
Gilbert's death leaves Fred Hellerman as the only The Weavers member alive.
