Pete Seeger, a man considered to be one of the forerunners of modern folk music who motivated legions of activist singer-songwriters, passed away yesterday at the age of 94. Seeger's legendary career spanned over seven decades.

Seeger's best known songs include "Where Have All the Flowers Gone," "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)," and "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)."

Nevertheless, his influence goes far beyond individual hits.

His grandson Kitama Cahill Jackson revealed to CNN that the vocalist died of natural causes at New York Presbyterian Hospital last night.

"He lived at a time when so many things hadn't been done yet, the idea of making music about something hadn't really been done," said Jackson to CNN. "And now people do it all the time."

Seeger's views did not usually sit well with establishments.

"From the start, he aspired to use folk music to promote his left-wing political views, and in times of national turmoil that brought him into direct confrontation with the U.S. government, corporate interests, and people who did not share his beliefs," wrote William Ruhlmann in a biography on allmusic.com. "These conflicts shaped his career."

In 2009, Seeger spoke to CNN about the early stages of his music career in the late 1930's.

"I come from a family of teachers, and I was looking for a job on a newspaper and not getting one," he said in the interview. "I had an aunt who said, 'Peter, I can get five dollars for you if you come and sing some of your songs in my class.' Five dollars? In 1939, you would have to work all day or two days to make five dollars. It seemed like stealing."

Nonetheless, Seeger said he accepted his aunt's proposal.

"Pretty soon I was playing school after school, and I never did work on a newspaper," said Seeger to CNN in 2009 adding. "You don't have to play at nightclubs, you don't have to play on TV, just go from college to college to college, and the kids will sing along with you."

Seeger's grandson revealed his grandfather had heart surgery last month to replace a valve. Jackson revealed the surgery was successful and had nothing to do with Seeger's death. He also said Seeger was in the hospital for six days prior to his passing away.

"He was a second father to me, he was a friend, he was a best friend," said Jackson to CNN. "He was just this wonderful, genuine person."