Richie Havens, the folk singer who opened the legendary 1969 Woodstock rock festival, has died of a heart attack at 72.
He died at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey, his agent, Roots Agency, told Reuters.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, the musician was famous for his distinctive guitar and singing style.
Recalling Woodstock, Havens once said: “Everything in my life, and so many others’, is attached to that train.”
His improvised version of the gospel song Motherless Child evolved into Freedom at the festival and became an anthem of the 1960s hippie generation.
The Woodstock concert film captured his performance for posterity.
More recently, the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino’s award-winning slavery-era film Django Unchained featured Havens singing a version of Freedom.
Tributes to the singer have come in, with his contemporary and fellow singer Stephen Stills saying Havens “could never be replicated”.
