Peter Yarrow (left) in the early 1960s with his Peter, Paul and Mary bandmates, Mary Travers and Noel Paul Stookey.

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Hulton Archive/Getty Images/Hulton Archive

Folk singer Peter Yarrow, best known as a member of the trio Peter, Paul and Mary, has died aged 86. His publicist confirmed that Yarrow died Tuesday morning surrounded by his family at his home in New York City after a four-year battle with bladder cancer.

Peter Yarrow grew up in New York City as the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. He began performing folk music as a student at Cornell University and met his bandmates Mary Travers and Noel Paul Stookey in the Greenwich Village folk scene. As Peter, Paul and Mary, the three enjoyed enormous success in the early 1960s, buoyed by a song Yarrow co-wrote, “Puff, the Magic Dragon.” The group scored six top 10 hits billboard Between 1962 and 1969 they charted on the Hot 100 and received five Grammys.

Yarrow was a lifelong political activist and wrote the anti-Vietnam War protest song “Day Is Done”, released by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1969. But in 1970 his reputation was tarnished when he was convicted of a sexual offense against a minor. He served three months in prison and was eventually pardoned by President Jimmy Carter.