Harry Belafonte, 96, died at his Manhattan home.
He was one of the most prominent African-American pop stars in history, with hits including Island In The Sun, Mary’s Boy Child, and Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), which reached number one in the United Kingdom.
His greatest accomplishments, however, were as an advocate for minority civil rights in the United States.
According to his spokesman Ken Sunshine, he passed away from congestive heart failure.
Pamela, his wife, was by his side.
Belafonte was originally praised by Oprah Winfrey as “a pioneer and a hero to us all.
“Thank you for your music, artistry, activism, and fight for civil rights and justice,” she continued. Your presence on Earth has benefited everyone.
Singer-songwriter John Legend, who regarded Belafonte as a friend and mentor, said, “We can only thank God that we had Harry Belafonte for 96 years.”
“He sneaked in revolutionary messages when people thought he was just singing about good times.”
“He gave so much, endured so much, and contributed so much to our national and global growth.”
Multi-million purchaser
Belafonte, the product of impoverished Caribbean immigrants, was born in Harlem, New York, in 1927 and was often referred to as the King of Calypso.
Dropping out of high school, he entered the Navy during World War II and served as a munitions loader at a base in New Jersey.
After the war, he studied drama at Erwin Piscator’s renowned Dramatic Workshop alongside Marlon Brando, Walter Matthau, and Tony Curtis, pursuing his goal of becoming an actor.
He also sang in New York clubs with Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, and others to pay for the courses.
This resulted in a recording contract, and in quest of material, Belafonte began studying the folk song archives at the US Library of Congress, eventually settling on the Calypso music his parents had grown up with.
It proved to be a prudent decision. With songs like Jamaica Farewell and Day-O (a song about Caribbean dock workers). Both of which appeared on his third album Calypso, the handsome young star ignited a trend for the genre.
The 1956 Billboard number-one solo artist album sold over a million copies.
As a result of his success, he was the first black person to be permitted to perform in many upscale US venues, including some that had been off-limits to artists such as Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.
Jump In The Line (Shake Senora), from Beetlejuice, has over 115 million streams.
In 1953, Belafonte made his Broadway début in the musical John Murray Anderson’s Almanack, for which he was awarded the Tony Award for best-supporting actor. Soon after, he landed his first leading role in Island in the Sun, co-starring with James Mason, Joan Fontaine, and Joan Collins, with whom he had an affair.
Look magazine described him as the first black matinee idol in entertainment history in 1957.
In an era when black actors were typically cast as servants and laborers, he refused to conform to these stereotypes, making his accomplishments even more impressive. In 1959, he famously declined the main role in the musical Porgy and Bess, describing it as demeaning.
His final film appearance was in Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, which he completed in his eighties.
In his career as a musician, he also has recorded over 30 albums, including collaborations with Nana Mouskouri, Lena Horne, and Miriam Makeba.
Bob Dylan even made his first recorded appearance playing harmonica on the album Midnight Special by Harry Belafonte in 1962.
The artist, a close friend of Martin Luther King, was a prominent and visible supporter of the civil rights movement who funded several anti-segregation groups and was known to have bailed out Dr. King and other activists from prison.
One of the organizers of the 1963 March on Washington, he also participated in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches.
Dr. King once remarked, “Belafonte’s global popularity and dedication to our cause are essential to the global struggle for freedom and a potent tactical weapon in the Civil Rights movement.”
“We are blessed by his courage and moral integrity.”
In addition to fighting poverty, apartheid, and AIDS in Africa, the celebrity became an ambassador for Unicef, the United Nations Children’s Fund.
“A moral and considerate man”
In 1985, he orchestrated the charity single We Are the World, a musical collaboration that raised funds for Ethiopian famine relief.
After viewing a news report on the famine, he enlisted artists to raise funds in the same manner that Bob Geldof and Midge Ure had done in the UK a year prior with Band-Aid.
The composition, composed by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie and featuring superstars such as Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, and Diana Ross, raised millions of dollars for charity.
People frequently ask me, “As an artist, when did you decide to become an activist?”. Belafonte stated in a 2011 interview with National Public Radio. “I tell them, ‘I was an activist for many years before I became an artist.'”
Belafonte asked President Barack Obama to help the poor in his 80s.
In 2006, he labelled George W. Bush a “terrorist” in a meeting with Hugo Chavez. He was a staunch opponent of nuclear weapons. Bush “the greatest terrorist”
Additionally, Belafonte compared Bush’s black secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice to slaves who labored in their master’s homes rather than the fields.
Such statements made the celebrity a frequent target of criticism. But he continued to receive accolades for his artistic ability and humanitarian efforts.
Belafonte received the 1994 National Medal of Arts and 1989 Kennedy Centre Honour. He was one of the few people to win Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, and Tonys.
The rapper Ice Cube was among the other luminaries to pay tribute, describing the deceased as “more than a singer, more than an actor, and more than a man.”
Mia Farrow recalled Belafonte as a “beautiful singer” and “a profoundly moral and compassionate man.”
What a marvelous world it would be if we were more like Harry, she continued.
Bernice King displayed a photograph of Belafonte at her father’s interment and expressed her gratitude to the celebrity.
“When I was a child, HarryBelafonte demonstrated great compassion for my family,” she wrote on Instagram.
“He paid for a carer for me and my siblings. At my father’s funeral ceremony at Morehouse College, he is seen grieving alongside my mother. I’ll never forget it. Rest well, gentleman.”
Belafonte had three marriages. He had two children with his first wife, Marguerite Byrd, including actress and model Shari Belafonte. He also had two children with his second wife, the former dancer Julia Robinson.
