Product Code Database
Noel Paul Stookey (born December 30, 1937) is an American singer-songwriter and activist who is known for being a member of the 1960s folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary along with Peter Yarrow and Mary Travers. He has been known by his first name, Noel, throughout his life. He is the last surviving member of the group, following the deaths of Mary Travers in 2009 and Peter Yarrow in 2025. Stookey continues to work as a solo artist and an activist.
Stookey attended Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing, Michigan but did not graduate. While attending MSU, he joined Delta Upsilon fraternity. Though he credits a deep spiritual core for his work, Stookey "dispelled reports that he was born a Buddhism, saying his mother was a Roman Catholic and his dad was an ex-Mormon" and recalling the family's "eclectic attendance at church. I had no real spiritual sense until I was 30."
One of Stookey's songs, "Norman Normal", which appeared on The Peter, Paul and Mary Album (1966), inspired a Warner Bros. animated cartoon also titled Norman Normal (1968). Stookey co-wrote the story for the cartoon and voiced several of the characters.
In addition to his recordings with the trio, he released a number of solo works, several albums with the ensemble Bodyworks, and some anthologies. He was an important artist in the young Jesus music movement, which later bloomed into the Christian music industry, although his generally liberal political views distinguish him from many such artists.
Stookey was awarded the Kate Wolf Memorial Award by the World Folk Music Association in 2000.
In 1973, Stookey performed at Carnegie Hall and released the concert as his second solo album calling it One Night Stand. With the release of One Night Stand, Stookey changed his name from Noel Paul Stookey to Paul Stookey.
Stookey's best-known composition "The Wedding Song (There Is Love)" was included on his debut solo album. The song was also released as a single which reached number 24 in the Billboard Hot 100. He wrote the song as a wedding gift for Peter Yarrow, and refused to perform it for the public until Yarrow requested it at a concert where his wife was present.NPR interview broadcast August 30, 2008 Stookey assigned the copyright of this song to the Public Domain Foundation (PDF), a nonprofit 501(c)3.
In 1986, Stookey teamed up with Jim Newton, Paul G. Hill, and Denny Bouchard at Celebration Shop in Texas. The company, now known as Kidlinks, uses original musical compositions as music therapy to address the special needs of children. The company has produced three award-winning children's CDs used in hospitals, medical camps and homes across the country.
In 2000 Noel and his daughter, Elizabeth Stookey Sunde, founded the nonprofit Music to Life, which builds on the strong historical legacy of social movements' intentional use of music to educate, recruit, and mobilize.
In January 2011, centered on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Stookey participated in several events at Dartmouth College that celebrated King's life, including "Music for Social Change with Noel Paul Stookey and Company.", January 2011 (archived January 2011)
!scope="col" | Year !scope="col" | Title !scope="col" | Record label |
| 2022 | Fazz:Now&Then | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2018 | Somethin' Special – A Noel Paul Stookey Holiday Recollection | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2017 | Summerfallwinterspring (four-song EP) | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2015 | At Home: The Maine Tour (DVD and CD) | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2012 | The Cabin Fever Waltz (EP with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra) | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2012 | One & Many | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2012 | Cue the Moon (digital download EP) | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2012 | Capricious Bird (digital download EP) | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2012 | One Voice and One Guitar (digital download EP) | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2007 | Facets | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2004 | Virtual Party | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2002 | Circuit Rider (A Noel Paul Stookey / Bodyworks compilation) | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 2001 | There Is Love (A Holiday Music Celebration) with Michael Kelly Blanchard | Neworld Multimedia | |
| 1990 | In Love Beyond Our Lives (Noel Paul Stookey/ Bodyworks) | Gold Castle | |
| 1985 | State of the Heart (Noel Paul Stookey/ Bodyworks) | Newpax | |
| 1984 | There Is Love (A Noel Paul Stookey Anthology) | Newpax | |
| 1982 | Wait'll You Hear This (Noel Paul Stookey/ Bodyworks) | Newpax | |
| 1979 | Band & Bodyworks (Noel Paul Stookey/ Bodyworks) | Neworld | |
| 1977 | Something New and Fresh | Neworld | |
| 1977 | Real to Reel | Neworld | |
| 1973 | One Night Stand | Warner Bros. | |
| 1971 | Paul and (Released August 16, 1971)The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii)Aug 16, 1971, MonPage 21 | Warner Bros | |
| 1954 | The Birds Fly Home (The Birds of Paradise, Stookey's high school band) | Independent release |
| July 31, 1971 | "Wedding Song (There Is Love)" | 24 | 3 | 31 | 12 |
|
|
