American social-protest singer/songwriter, b. El Paso, Tex., Dec. 19, 1940; d. Far Rockaway, N.Y., April 19, 1976. A contemporary of BOB DYLAN'S in the early '60s, to whose work his was often compared, Ochs was a more polished performer and wrote a variety of satirical songs on issues of the day.

Although born in Texas, Ochs first performed while a college student in Cleveland, as half of a duo who became known as the Sundowners. In 1961 he relocated to N.Y.'s Greenwich Village, where he became a solo act. His work was quickly championed by Broadside magazine, a folk publication specializing in topical songs. He was signed to the folk label Elektra, where he recorded his first album, All the News That's Fit to Sing. Early hits included I Ain't a Marchin Anymore and There but for Fortune (covered in 1965 by Joan Baez).

In 1967 Ochs relocated to California and began writing in a more personal, confessional style. He had some minor hits, including Pleasures of the Harbor (1967) and Small Circle of Friends (1968), an ironic contemporary song on people's apathy when it came to the violence occurring around them.

Taking yet another odd turn in his career, he returned to N.Y. to perform at Carnegie Hall in 1971, oddly dressed in a gold lamé suit. He had worn a similar costume on the cover of his ironically titled Greatest Hits album, which, in fact, did not contain any hits at all but was entirely made up of new material. The audience, stunned by his personality shift, was not pleased.

Ochs traveled in the early '70s to Africa and England and then returned to the N.Y. area by 1974, taking up new causes, including organizing a concert against the dictatorial government of Chile. Depressed by his lack of success, he took his own life by hanging himself while on a visit to his sister in 1976.

Ochs's music enjoyed a revival in the '90s, with several compilations of his earlier recordings reissued and two different biographies published.