Pete Seeger's 'Forever Young' Music Video Goes Viral; Recorded Protest Singer Recorded Forever Young at 92 (Video)

Pete Seeger's "Forever Young" music video went viral in the wake of folk singer and activist's death. Pete Seeger, who will be the first recipient of the new Woody Guthrie Prize on Feb. 22 in New York, was 92 when he made the music video for Bob Dylan's song "Forever Young" in 2012.  It was the only music video Seeger made. Pete Seger died on Monday at the age of 94.

Pete Seeger was an activist and a humanitarian but is best known as a folk musician. Pete Seeger famously walked out of Bob Dylan's electric debut at the Newport Folk Festival, complaining of noise. But Seeger always loved Bob Dylan and his touching music video for "Forever Young" went viral in his memory. The video has been more than 500,000 times, up from around 120,000 about a week earlier.

Pete Seeger was joined by the Grammy-winning Rivertown Kids choir for the video. Seeger made the "Forever Young" video in celebration of Amnesty International's 50th anniversary. It was his last major audio recording.

Seeger was recruited video by producer Martin Lewis to record the song. Lewis told Pop & Hiss "Pete Seeger was an incredibly inspirational figure. He led by example. His commitment to the causes he cared about was total. His courage in the McCarthy era was legendary. He stood up to the reactionary bullies and faced them down. It was a great privilege to get to know him and work with him on two projects for Amnesty International. Human rights was a cause very close to his heart. His heartfelt performance of Bob Dylan's song captures the spirit that defined his life. And he gave us all a salutary lesson on how to live our lives. It is wonderful that so many people are reliving the humanity of Pete in this poignant video.  In our hearts Pete Seeger will stay 'Forever Young'."

On Wednesday The Woody Guthrie Archive and the Grammy Museum announced that they will Seeger will be the first recipient of the new Woody Guthrie Prize. The ceremony is scheduled to take place in New York on Feb. 22.

In a statement, Woody Guthrie's daughter Nora Guthrie said "The only thing I know for certain is that Pete would want us to gather together and make some music. The power of song, as he constantly reminded us, can take us through everything that life, and death, throws at us. On Feb. 22nd, we won't take a moment of silence to remember him. We will take all the moments to sing - as loudly and with as many harmonies as we can muster. If Pete heard we were going to honor him by not singing, he would be furious!"

You can watch "Forever Young" video here.

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pete seeger
Forever Young
music video
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