NEW YORK — Dave Van Ronk, a New York-born guitarist and singer who was at the forefront of the Greenwich Village folk boom, has died following treatment for colon cancer. He was 65.
Van Ronk died Sunday of cardiopulmonary failure at New York University Medical Center, said Mitch Greenhill, his longtime manager. He was diagnosed with cancer last fall.
A prolific musician who was nominated for a Grammy, Van Ronk offered his home as a hangout for fellow musicians in the 1960s. Among them was a young Bob Dylan.
"People were always stopping by," Greenhill said. "He (Van Ronk) was one of the few guys who was working at a pretty high level who went out of his way to be friendly."
Born in Brooklyn, Van Ronk started living in Greenwich Village by the time he was a teenager. His first album, "Ballads, Blues and a Spiritual," was released in 1957.
He opened his home to Dylan when the artist arrived in New York in the 1960s.