Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to Pete Seeger last night [January 28] at his show with the E Street Band at the Bellville Velodrome in Cape Town, South Africa.

Scroll down to watch the footage.

Springsteen said, “I lost a great friend and a great hero last night, Pete Seeger,” before covering “We Shall Overcome“.

“He was a courageous freedom fighter. I took this song to heart and once you heard this song you were prepared to march into hell’s fire,” Springsteen said.

Springsteen also posted on his website the text to his tribute to Seeger at his 90th birthday celebration.

Among the other tributes paid to Seeger, President Barack Obama released a statement earlier in the day, writing in part, “Once called ‘America’s tuning fork,’ Pete Seeger believed deeply in the power of song. But more importantly, he believed in the power of community — to stand up for what’s right, speak out against what’s wrong, and move this country closer to the America he knew we could be.”