American folk musician Richie Havens, famous for his distinctive guitar and singing style, has died of a heart attack. He was 72.
Havens was born in Brooklyn on 21 January, 1941, the eldest of nine children, and began singing in neighborhood doo-wop groups. In the late 1950s, he went to Greenwich Village where he performed poetry, drew, and immersed himself in the folk music scene.
In 1969, he opened the historic Woodstock musical festival, energising the crowd with his version of Motherless Child/Freedom which became an anthem of the hippie generation.
He emerged from the New York folk scene and went on to sing several times for the Dalai Lama and for President Bill Clinton at his 1993 inauguration.
Known for his driving acoustic guitar and soulful covers of songs including Bob Dylan's Just Like a Woman and the Beatles' Here Comes the Sun, Havens used his music to champion the causes of personal freedom and brotherhood, Reuters reports.
In 1967, he released Mixed Bag, the first of about 25 albums, and only retired from touring three years ago. He released what would be his final album, Nobody Left to Crown, in 2008.
In the 1970s, Havens branched out into acting, appearing in the 1972 version of The Who's rock opera Tommy and taking the lead role in the Othello inspired 1974 movie Catch My Soul.
More recently, the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's award-winning slavery-era film Django Unchained featured him singing a version of Freedom.
Richie Havens is survived by four children and several grandchildren, the Los Angeles Times reports.
