Folk singer Richie Havens , who died Monday at 72 , was the opening act in 1969 at Woodstock , the historic counterculture music festival , catapulting him to fame and securing his status as an icon of the baby-boomer generation . Havens would tour widely for the next 40 years and release more than 20 albums . On the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock festival , Havens wrote this reflection for CNN.com in 2009 . Forty years ago this summer I wound up opening the Woodstock festival when the four acts scheduled before me were stuck in massive traffic jams and delayed in getting to the concert site in Bethel , New York . My band had made it up from Manhattan in the early morning hours , and we had the least amount of gear to set up , so after some strong convincing from the promoters I agreed to go on . The show was late in starting , and they were feeling pressure to start the music . We played for nearly three hours as they were still building the stage around me . I sang every song I knew , and when they asked me to go back on one more time , I improvised `` Freedom . '' When you see me in the movie tuning my guitar and strumming , I was actually trying to figure out what else I could possibly play ! I looked out at all of those faces in front of me and the word `` freedom '' came to mind . One of my strongest memories of that day is flying in the helicopter over that vast , spectacular crowd that had already stretched back over the hills and well out of view of the stage . Looking down , my only thought was , `` This is incredible . ... We 're really here and they ca n't hide us anymore . '' I 've been asked all summer long if I believe Woodstock is still significant and if I think another Woodstock is ever likely to happen . Well , certainly large three-day festivals are still happening all over : Coachella and Bonnaroo in the United States , the Isle of Wight and Glastonbury abroad , but the reality of what made Woodstock become such a historic event has definitely changed . Woodstock happened in August 1969 , long before the Internet and mobile phones made it possible to communicate instantly with anyone , anywhere . It was a time when we were n't able to witness world events or the horrors of war live on 24-hour news channels . News coverage was filtered and selective , and we felt manipulated and silenced by the lack of information . So much was happening around us , and we did n't feel like we were being told the truth . With everything that was going on in the late 1960s -- the war in Vietnam , civil and human rights issues , the Rev . Martin Luther King Jr. 's assassination -- we rallied and relied on strength in numbers . We came together communally to be heard and to be acknowledged . Though it 's frequently portrayed as this crazy , unbridled festival of rain-soaked , stoned hippies dancing in the mud , Woodstock was obviously much more than that -- or we would n't still be talking about it in 2009 . People of all ages and colors came together in the fields of Max Yasgur 's farm . Some traveled for days or weeks to get there . The world was quickly changing , and none of us was willing to sit and just watch it go by . We needed to feel like part of the change and that spontaneous coming together felt like the world 's biggest family reunion ! When Wavy Gravy said , `` What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000 , '' that 's what it felt like : hundreds of thousands of friends and loved ones taking care of one another . Woodstock was both a peaceful protest and a global celebration .
Woodstock , who came to wide fame as the opening act at Richie Havens , died 2009 . He wrote a recollection of the festival for CNN.com on its 40th anniversary in Monday . Havens said he took the stage to perform his iconic set when other acts were delayed . Havens : In a pre-digital age , Woodstock was a peaceful protest and global celebration .