Musician Richie Havens died Woodstock maxi concert opened

NEW YORK -American musician Richie Havens died at 72 of a heart attack. The news was given by his agent. Havens was known all over the world for his music which John Lennon described on “Rolling Stone” as “highly funky”. But Havens owes his fame to the fact that he was the first musician to take the stage of the Woodstock maxiconcerto, in 1969, just a year after his debut in the clubs and streets of New York’s Greenwich Village, where he had traveled the first steps as a cover performer of famous singers of the time. In 2009 he also returned to play on the same stage in Woodstock, in the re-enactment of the gigantic musical festival.

IMAGES OF HIS CAREER

THE WOODSTOCK VIDEO

In his long career, he was also called to the stage during Bill Clinton’s inauguration as President of the US Republic.

This was announced by the Roots Agency, which represented him for many years and which, in a statement, recalls how “from Woodstock to the Isle of Wight, from Glastonbury to the Fillmore Auditorium, from the Royal Albert Hall to Carnegie Hall, Richie played in music festivals that have become legend “. But “even when he played in bars in Greenwich Village (New York), or in a small club or in a regional theater, he was always extremely grateful to the people who flocked to him in large numbers every time.”

And the fame of Richie Havens began its rise right from Greenwich Village, in the 60s, and was definitively consolidated when in 1969, he was the first artist to take the stage of the Woodstock Festival. In 1993 he played at the concert in honor of Bill Clinton’s inauguration of the presidency. On several occasions he sang in charity concerts, and was also a promoter of initiatives in defense of the weakest.

In 2003, the National Music Council honored him with the American Eagle Award for his role in American music history and as “a rare and inspired voice of eloquence, integrity and social responsibility”.