Harry Belafonte, the singer and actor who used his fame as a Calypso sensation to advocate for civil rights and humanitarian causes, has died at 96.
Belafonte’s classic songs include “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song),” “Jamaica Farewell” and “Jump in the Line.” His spokesman Ken Sunshine said the cause of death was congestive heart failure, per the New York Times. He died at his home in Manhattan.
Early life
Belafonte was born March 1, 1927 in Harlem, New York City, the son of poor Caribbean immigrants. He spent several years of his childhood living in Jamaica with his grandmother, before returning to NYC in the 1940s.
“The most difficult time in my life was when I was a kid,” he would later tell People Magazine. “My mother gave me affection, but, because I was left on my own, also a lot of anguish.”
He dropped out of high school to join the Navy during World War II. After his service he returned to New York to pursue a career in theater. According to Biography, Belafonte studied theater alongside classmates like Marlon Brando and Walter Matthau. At the same time, he found success in music, becoming a popular jazz club act backed by musicians like Charlie Parker and Miles Davis.
Breakthrough success
Belafonte won a Tony Award for his Broadway debut in John Murray Anderson’s Almanac. He soon found success on film as well, starring in films like the musical Carmen Jones opposite Dorothy Dandridge.
He also helped popularize traditional Trinbagonian Calypso music to an international audience: his 1956 album Calypso was a huge hit, becoming the first LP to ever sell one million copies, and introduced his signature song “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song).”
“That song is a way of life,” Belafonte later told The New York Times. “It’s a song about my father, my mother, my uncles, the men and women who toil in the banana fields, the cane fields of Jamaica.”
He also became the first Black person to win an Emmy for his 1959 special Revlon Revue: Tonight with Belafonte.
Civil rights activism
Belafonte was known as the “King of Calypso,” but throughout his career he was equally as well-known as a lifelong activist.
He became good friends with Martin Luther King Jr. and was a vocal advocate of the US civil rights movement, participating in numerous protests and rallies. His mentor was fellow actor-turned-activist Paul Robeson.
“Paul Robeson had been my first great formative influence; you might say he gave me my backbone,” Belafonte later wrote in his memoir. “Martin King was the second; he nourished my soul.”
He helped organize the 1963 March on Washington, in which King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. He also contributed to the 1961 Freedom Rides and the voter registration drives. He bailed MLK out of jail and raised money for the release of other civil rights activists.
Belafonte remained a lifelong activist. In the 1980s, he organized a supergroup of celebrity musicians to record a song to benefit African famine relief: The song “We Are the World” became one of the best-selling singles of all time and raised over $10 million for the cause upon its release.
He was also involved in the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and was a vocal opponent of the Iraq War.
Legacy and honors
Today, Belafonte is remembered both for his groundbreaking music and as a tireless advocate for civil rights.
He has received many lifetime achievement honors, including the Kennedy Center Honors in 1989, the National Medal of Arts in 1994, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, and the honorary Academy Award the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. In 2022, he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the oldest living person to receive the honor.
Rest in peace, Harry Belafonte. An incredible musician who spent his life fighting for what he believed in.
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