Richie Havens has died at the age of 72

Richie Havens was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1941 and started his creative career in the days of doo-wop and Beatniks.

Not until his 20s living in Greenwich Village, New York did Richie pick up a guitar and begin playing and developing the distinctive style he became famous for through his life.

After a number of Billboard albums Richie Valens was invited to open the infamous Woodstock Festival and played for nearly three hours and improvised using the traditional gospel song “Motherless Child” and transforming it into “Freedom”, a song which became the soundtrack to the hippie 1960s.

Richie went on to release a further 16 studio albums following his Woodstock performance prior to kidney surgery in 2010 which left him unable to perform live. On April 22nd 2013 he passed away following a heart attack.  Our condolences to his friends and family.

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