American singer-songwriter and guitarist (1941–2013)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richie Havens</span>

Richie Havens

<p><b>Richard Pierce Havens</b> (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-The_Great_Rock_Discography_1-0"><a href="#cite_note-The_Great_Rock_Discography-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span> His music encompassed elements of <a href="/en/Folk_music" title="Folk music" class="wl">folk</a>, <a href="/en/Soul_music" title="Soul music" class="wl">soul</a> (both of which he frequently <a href="/en/Cover_song" title="Cover song" class="mw-redirect wl">covered</a>), and <a href="/en/Rhythm_and_blues" title="Rhythm and blues" class="wl">rhythm and blues</a>. He had a rhythmic guitar style (often in <a href="/en/Open_tuning" title="Open tuning" class="mw-redirect wl">open tunings</a>). He was the opening act at <a href="/en/Woodstock" title="Woodstock" class="wl">Woodstock</a>, sang many jingles for television commercials, and was also the voice of the <a href="/en/GeoSafari" title="GeoSafari" class="wl">GeoSafari</a> toys.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">American singer-songwriter and guitarist (1941–2013)</div>
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<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Richie Havens, Background information, Birth ...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox vcard plainlist mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above notheme" style="background-color: #b0c4de; font-size: 125%;"><div class="fn">Richie Havens</div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:Richie_Havens_in_Washington_D.C..jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" title="Havens in Washington, D.C. in 1999" data-hash="File:Richie_Havens_in_Washington_D.C..jpg"><img loading="lazy"alt="Havens in Washington, D.C. in 1999" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Richie_Havens_in_Washington_D.C..jpg/220px-Richie_Havens_in_Washington_D.C..jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="686" data-file-height="1024" data-file-type="bitmap" height="328" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Richie_Havens_in_Washington_D.C..jpg/330px-Richie_Havens_in_Washington_D.C..jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/Richie_Havens_in_Washington_D.C..jpg/440px-Richie_Havens_in_Washington_D.C..jpg 2x"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Havens in <a href="/en/Washington,_D.C." title="Washington, D.C." class="wl">Washington, D.C.</a> in 1999</div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #b0c4de">Background information</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span class="nowrap">Birth name</span></th><td class="infobox-data nickname">Richard Pierce Havens</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Born</th><td class="infobox-data"><span style="display:none">(<span class="bday">1941-01-21</span>)</span>January 21, 1941<br>New York City, U.S.</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Died</th><td class="infobox-data">April 22, 2013<span style="display:none">(2013-04-22)</span> (aged<span>&nbsp;</span>72)<br><a href="/en/Jersey_City,_New_Jersey" title="Jersey City, New Jersey" class="wl">Jersey City</a>, <a href="/en/New_Jersey" title="New Jersey" class="wl">New Jersey</a>, U.S.</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Genres</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Folk_rock" title="Folk rock" class="wl">Folk rock</a>, <a href="/en/Funk" title="Funk" class="wl">funk</a>, <a href="/en/Blues" title="Blues" class="wl">blues</a>, <a href="/en/Soul_music" title="Soul music" class="wl">soul</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Occupation(s)</th><td class="infobox-data role">Musician, songwriter</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Instrument(s)</th><td class="infobox-data note">Vocals, guitar, <a href="/en/Sitar" title="Sitar" class="wl">sitar</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><span class="nowrap">Years active</span></th><td class="infobox-data">1965–2012</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Labels</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Alan_Douglas_(record_producer)" title="Alan Douglas (record producer)" class="wl">Douglas Records</a>, <a href="/en/Verve_Records" title="Verve Records" class="wl">Verve Forecast</a>, <a href="/en/MGM_Records" title="MGM Records" class="wl">MGM</a>, <a href="/en/A&M_Records" title="A&amp;M Records" class="wl">A&amp;M</a>, <a href="/en/Solar_Records" title="Solar Records" class="mw-redirect wl">Solar</a>/<a href="/en/Epic_Records" title="Epic Records" class="wl">Epic</a>/<a href="/en/Sony_Music_Entertainment" title="Sony Music Entertainment" class="mw-redirect wl">SME</a>, <a href="/en/Rykodisc_Records" title="Rykodisc Records" class="mw-redirect wl">Rykodisc</a>, <a href="/en/Rhino_Records" title="Rhino Records" class="mw-redirect wl">Rhino</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header notheme" style="background-color: #b0c4de"></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Website</th><td class="infobox-data"><span class="url"><a rel="mw:ExtLink nofollow" href="http://richiehavens.com" class="external text" target="_blank">richiehavens<wbr>.com</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt4">Musical artist</div>



Richard Pierce Havens was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul , and rhythm and blues. He had a rhythmic guitar style . He was the opening act at Woodstock, sang many jingles for television commercials, and was also the voice of the GeoSafari toys. 