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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World

Weavers folk legend Ronnie Gilbert dies in California aged 88

The Weavers perform in a 25th anniversary reunion concert at Carnegie Hall, New York in 1980. From left: Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman.
The Weavers perform in a 25th anniversary reunion concert at Carnegie Hall, New York in 1980. From left: Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman. Photograph: Richard Drew/AP

Singer Ronnie Gilbert, a member of the influential 1950s folk quartet the Weavers, has died. She was 88.

Her longtime partner, Donna Korones, says Gilbert died of natural causes Saturday at a retirement community in Mill Valley.

With the Weavers, whose other members were Pete Seeger, Lee Hays and Fred Hellerman, Gilbert helped spark a national folk revival with hit recordings of Goodnight Irene, On Top of Old Smokey, If I Had A Hammer, Kisses Sweeter Than Wine and Wimoweh.

The group was hugely popular before being targeted by anti-communists and blacklisted during the Red Scare. After disbanding in 1964, Gilbert worked as a stage actor and psychologist.

She is survived by her daughter, Lisa, and Korones, her partner of 30 years.

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