The famous singer, actor and civil rights activist, perhaps best known for the Banana Boat Song “Day-O’ has died.
He died of congestive heart failure at 96. As tributes poured in from various sources, US president Joe Biden said that he was a “groundbreaking American who used his talent and voice to redeem the soul of the nation. Harry Belafonte’s accomplishments are legendary and his legacy of outspoken advocacy, compassion and respect for dignity will endure forever,” said Biden on Twitter.
Dr Martin Luther King’s daughter Bernice King shared a picture of Belafonte at her father’s funeral saying that he “showed up for my family in very compassionate ways. In fact he paid for the babysitter for me and my siblings.”
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Oprah Winfrey also paid tribute saying that he was a “trailblazer and a hero to us all.”
“Thank you for your music, your artistry, your activism, your fight for civil rights and justice. Your being here on Earth has bless us all,” she said.
“We just have to thank God that we had Harry Belafonte for 96 years,” said singer-songwriter John Legend.
Belafonte was born in Harlem, New York in 1927 the son of Caribbean immigrants. He dropped out of high school and joined the navy during World War II. After the war he became an actor and later started singing leading to a recording contract. His song Day-O which was from the album Calypso about Caribbean dock workers topped the Billboard charts in 1956.
He was also one of the first black individuals to perform at various institutions alongside other famous names like Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald.
He was also a big supporter of the civil rights movement alongside Martin Luther King and he funded several marches and organisations as well as posting bail for King and other activists of the time.
King once said of him, “Belafonte’s global popularity and his commitment to our cause is a key ingredient to the global struggle for freedom and a powerful tactical weapon in the Civil Rights movement. We are blessed by his courage and moral integrity.”
In 1985 he organized the charity single We are the World, an all star musical collaboration that raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia. The song had Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles and Diana Ross performing. It was written by Jackson and Lionel Ritchie and raised a lot of funds for charity.
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The photo above is from a YouTube screen grab