70s folk legend who rose to fame in Bob Dylan’s NYC music scene dead at 83 as emotional tributes paid

Folk icon Michael Hurley has died at age 83.

His family announced his passing ‘with resounding sadness’ in a statement released by his record label, No Quarter Rex, on Thursday.

‘It is with a resounding sadness that the Hurley family announces the recent sudden passing of the inimitable Michael Hurley,’ the statement, posted to Instagram, read.

‘The “Godfather of freak folk” was for a prolific half-century the purveyor of an eccentric genius and compassionate wit. He alone was Snock. There is no other. Friends, family, and the music community deeply mourn his loss.’

The statement did not reveal a cause of death.

Hurley, an iconic alternative artist nicknamed the ‘Godfather of freak folk’, got his start performing in the same NYC music community as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon in the 1960s and 70s, the Greenwich Village folk scene. 

Folk legend Michael Hurley has died at age 83 

As a child, he was also friends with Jesse Colin Young, who would later front the band Youngbloods, according to the LA Times. 

Prior to his death, he was residing in rural Oregon. 

Mike Quinn, the owner of No Quarter Records, revealed Hurley had recently finished an album.

‘So sad to hear about Michael Hurley,’ the record label added in the post announcing his death.

‘A true American treasure. I’m thankful that I got to know him and work with him over the past few years.

‘Michael just finished a new album. It was mastered the week before he died, and he was very proud of it (as he should be… it’s outstanding). Hopeful it will see the light of day soon.’

Hurley’s death came not long after he did several performances, with one at the Big Ears Music Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee on March 28 in addition to a March 31 concert at the AyurPrana Listening Room in Asheville, North Carolina.

Hurley pictured performing in Camber, East Sussex in 2013 

His first album, First Songs, was released in 1964, followed by Armchair Boogie. 

Have Moicy!, his 1974 album, has become beloved by fans. 

In total, he released more than 30 LPs in his career, the LA Times reports. 

Hurley’s tracks included Sweedeedee, Be King To Me, What Made My Hamburger Disappear?, and Valley of Tears.

Hurley has admitted to having a relaxed approach to his music career. 

‘I didn’t have a progressive drive about it,’ he told The Guardian of building his career in 2021. ‘I didn’t enjoy the process of applying for gigs, that determination to penetrate things, all this trouble you had to go through. I preferred playing parties. Little gatherings. Drinking with friends, hopping across the river.’

Similarly, he told the New York Times in 2021: ‘I never thought of a career in music. 

‘What I do is goof off — and try to get away with it.’ 

Hurley has five children total from three different relationships.

People reports he has two sons and a daughter with ex-wife Marjorie, in addition to a son with girlfriend Kim and a daughter with girlfriend Bethany.

In addition to playing multiple instruments that included the banjo and fiddle, he also was a cartoonist who illustrated his own album covers

Hurley was quite the multi-hyphenate.

In addition to playing multiple instruments that included the banjo and fiddle, he also was a cartoonist who illustrated his own album covers. 

His final album, The Time of the Foxgloves, was released in 2021. 

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