Harry Chapin

One of the most popular singer-songwriters of the 1970s, Harry Chapin recorded a vast amount of material during the decade, including 10 albums and two musicals, but he was most widely known for a pair of emotional ballads, "Taxi" and "Cat's in the Cradle," which struck a chord among listeners with their stories of missed romantic and familial connections. In addition to his music career, Chapin was also a tireless activist for social causes, including World Hunger Year, which he co-founded in 1976. His commitment to charities would eventually take greater precedence in his life than his music, which faltered in the second half of the decade before "Sequel," a follow-up to "Taxi" that became his last Top 40 single. Chapin's death in 1981 in an automobile crash was widely mourned by fans and industry members alike, who continued to pay tribute to his songs and his charitable commitments in the decades that followed, thus ensuring that his legacy as one of the most socially conscious performers of the 1970s remain intact for generations to come.