Arlo Guthrie

Following in the footsteps of his father, legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie, Arlo Davy Guthrie (July 10, 1947) crafted poignant protest songs that dealt with the dark side of the American dream. Born in the Coney Island neighborhood in Brooklyn, he experienced success almost instantly with his studio debut Alice’s Restaurant (1967), which peaked at Number 17 on the Billboard 200 and achieved platinum sales. The album featured the track “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree,” an 18-minute anti-war talking blues track that has since become a Thanksgiving classic in the United States. Directed by Arthur Penn, a film about the true story told in the song titled Alice’s Restaurant saw the light in 1969. That year, he also gave a performance of the song "Coming into Los Angeles" at the iconic Woodstock Festival. Further success ensued in 1972 when his cover of Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans,” included in the full-length Hobo's Lullaby, cracked the 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, followed by the critically-acclaimed LPs Last of the Brooklyn Cowboys (1973), Arlo Guthrie (1974), and Amigo (1976). Arlo Guthrie continued to record and perform, both with his band Shenandoah and as a solo artist, until 2020, when he made the decision to officially retire from the music industry due to recurring health issues.