Peter, Paul and Mary's Noel Stookey Explains Why He Started Going by 'Paul,' Never Expected It to Follow Him 65 Years Later
Peter, Paul and Mary's Noel Stookey Explains Why He Started Going by 'Paul,' Never Expected It to Follow Him 65 Years Later
Meredith WilshereSat, June 27, 2026 at 9:58 AM UTC
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Noel Stookey in 2015Credit: Andrew Toth/Getty -
Noel Stookey started going by his middle name, Paul, to create a cohesive flow with the first names of Peter, Paul and Mary bandmates Peter Yarrow and Mary Travers
Peter, Paul and Mary began performing in Greenwich Village, debuting at venues like the Gaslight and the Bitter End, in the '60s
The trio, known for hits like "Puff, the Magic Dragon," performed together until Travers' death in 2009
When Noel Stookey agreed to go by his middle name, Paul, for the sake of his band, then just a fun hobby, he never expected that people would still be calling him that 65 years later.
Stookey, 88, recently spoke with Rolling Stone about being the last remaining member of Peter, Paul and Mary and how the band came to be.
During the interview, he explained that he agreed to go by Paul rather than Noel since it flowed better with the names of his other bandmates, Peter Yarrow and Mary Travers. Stookey and then-manager Albert Grossman also felt like Peter, Paul and Mary, which performed folk songs, carried strong biblical overtones.
Peter, Paul and MaryCredit: Araldo Di Crollalanza/Shutterstock
However, Stookey didn't think the decision would follow him decades later, with many people not even knowing his real name is Noel.
“The name is kind of a radar for me,” Stookey told Rolling Stone. “I know if people know me personally or know a friend of mine personally, if they say, ‘Hey, Noel.' But if they say, ‘Hey, Paul,' I know where they're coming from.”
The members of Peter, Paul and Mary met in Greenwich Village, a hot spot for up-and-coming artists like Bob Dylan in the '60s.
Stookey explained that when Grossman first approached him about joining a group, he shot him down, as he wanted to work on his solo act. He explained that Grossman already managed Yarrow at the time, who felt like Stookey "would make a good partner to have in a trio."
"So I think it was essentially Peter's idea, but Albert did the asking, and I said, 'Nah, I've got too much going on in my solo plate,' " he recalled.
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However, a "confrontation with a beautiful blonde" whom he had been working with later changed his mind.
"I was in my apartment on the Lower East Side, and she called me and said, 'There's this guy here with a guitar. Is it okay if we come over and sing?'" he recalled. "[I said], 'Well, duh. Okay.' ”"So Mary Travers comes over with Peter. We could not agree on the chords or the words to any of the songs that were common in the folk repertoire, because folk music allows you to have your own version and our own versions were so discreetly different that the only song we could agree on singing was 'Mary Had a Little Lamb,' but we did that in three-part harmony, and it was something special," he continued.
Yarrow then floated the idea that they join forces in a trio, and this time, Stookey agreed.
"I went to some rehearsals and it sounded pretty good. So we did a show and tell with Albert about three or four months later, and his associate, John Court, said, 'Hey, if nothing happens, you're going to happen.' And, boy, was he right."
Peter, Paul and MaryCredit: Dezo Hoffman/Shutterstock
Peter, Paul and Mary were most famous for songs like "Puff, the Magic Dragon," "Leaving on a Jet Plane," and "500 Miles." The band was active from 1961 to 1970, before taking a break and reconnecting in 1972 and then again in 1978. The band got back together in 1981 and performed until Travers' death in 2009 at the age of 72.
Yarrow, meanwhile, died in 2025 at the age of 86 from bladder cancer.
Stookey is the last remaining member of the trio.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
