Folk icon Jean Ritchie has died at the age of 92.
Ritchie – known as the Mother of Folk – inspired a string of stars, including Bob Dylan, with her take on traditional American music.
Dylan paid a financial settlement to Ritchie and gave her co-writing credit for his song Masters Of War, which borrowed heavily from her version of Nottamun Town.
She emerged on the New York folk scene in the 1940s and brought the Appalachian sound to a much wider audience. She sang at the first Newport folk festival in 1959 and won over a new, younger audience with her 1977 album None But One, which was awarded the Critics’ Award by Rolling Stone magazine.
She performed up until 2009 when she suffered a stroke. Ritchie was married to film-maker George Pickow, who died in 2010, and is survived by their sons Peter and Jonathan.
