Calypso singer and activist Harry Belafonte died at his New York City home April 25, 2023 as a result of congestive heart failure at the age of 96.  Publicist Ken Sunshine said that Belafonte’s wife Pamela was at his side at the time of his death.

He will forever be known for his hit song “The Banana Boat Song” – “Day-O”.  Sports stadiums continue to reverberate with the line “Day-O! Daaaaay-O”.

Belafonte was an entertainment pioneer as one of the first actor and singer of colour to be widely accepted and to sell a million records.

At a time when most artists only worried about their singing or acting, Belafonte was one of the first people of colour to form a music publishing company and was the first person of colour to produce a television production.

Even long after his singing career ended, Belafonte was at the forefront of the civil right movement and activism.  It was Harry Belafonte who brought Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy together in 1960 when Kennedy was seeking the presidency.  During the height of the Civil Rights Movement in the’60’s, Belafonte got Sidney Poitier, Paul Newman, Marlon Brando, Charlton Heston, Tony Bennett and Joan Baez involved in various marches and benefit concerts.

It was Harry Belafonte who sat next to Coretta Scott King at the funeral in 1968 after Martin Luther King was assassinated.

A contemporary of the Rev. Martin Luther King; Belafonte was not shy when it came to chastising young entertainers fir shirking their “social responsibilities” including Jay-Z and Beyonce.  He mentored young artists as well including Usher, Common, and Danny Glover.

Civil right leader Andrew Young noted that Belafonte became more radical the older he got. 

Among his some two dozen film and television performances was that of elder statesman Jerome Turner in “BlacKkKlansman” schooling the younger generation.

He made his screen debut in 1953 as the school principal in “Bright Road”.  His other roles include “Carmen Jones”, “Front Row Center”, “Island in the Sun”, “Odds Against Tomorrow”, “Buck and the Preacher”, “Uptown Saturday Night”, “Kansas City”, “White Man’s Burden”, “The Muppet Show”, and “Sesame Street”.



On Broadway, Belafonte made his debut in 1953 in the musical John Murray Anderson’s “Almanac”.  He also appeared in “3 for Tonight”, “Moonbirds”, “Belafonte at the Palace”, and “Asinamali!”.

He made history in 1968 when he filled in for Johnny Carson on the “Tonight Show” for a week and later that year while performing “On the Path of Glory” with Petula Clark, the British singer placed her hand on Belafonte’s arm.  Show sponsors demanded the segment be reshot but both artists refused and it went on to be the first time a white woman touched a man of colour on primetime television.  When a very young Shirley Temple appeared in film with a dancer of colour, they were not allowed to touch, even on a stair routine.

His accomplishments include winning a Tony Award and a Theatre World Award for his role in John Murray Anderson’s “Almanac” and became the first person of colour to win an Emmy Award for his television special “Tonight with Harry Belafonte” in 1959.  One of his two Grammy Awards was a concert album with South African singer Miriam Makeba.

He earned a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, is a National Medal of Arts recipient, was presented a New York Film Critics Award for his role in “Kansas City”, is a Kennedy Center Honour,  and has a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy.  Earlier in his career he served as a cultural adviser for the Peace Corps and later was a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.

His “Calypso” album was the first ever to be certified platinum for selling one million copies in 1955.

A young Bob Dylan made his musical debut playing harmonica on Belafonte’s “Midnight Special” album.

Once speaking on Belafonte, Dylan said, “Harry was the best balladeer in the land and everybody knew it.  Harry was that rare type of character that radiates greatness, and you hope that some of it rubs off on you.”

While much has been written about who did what in relation to the 1985 charity single “We Are the World”, Belafonte initiated the recording.

He was born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr on March 1, 1927 in Harlem the son of a Dutch Jamaican father and a Scottish mother – both of whom were undocumented immigrants.  He spent part of his childhood in Jamaica.  After leaving high school, young Harry joined the Navy where he served during World War II.  After serving his time in the military, Belafonte found a job as a janitor in an apartment building where he was befriended by a tenant who gave him a ticket for the American Negro Theatre.  An impressed Belafonte joined up first as a volunteer and actor.

He later attended acting classes at the New School for Social Research where he met Marlon Brando and Walter Matthau.

He began singing in the 1950’s around New York City and started recording records in 1955.  Eventually he would go on to release nearly 50 albums.

He is survived by his third wife Pamela, children – Shari, David, Gina, and Adriene -, two stepchildren, and eight grandchildren.

Harry Belafonte discography:
“Mark Twain and Other Folk Favorites”
“Three for Tonight” original soundtrack
“Belafonte”
“Calypso”
“Belafonte Sings of the Caribbean”
“An Evening with Belafonte”
“Belafonte Sings the Blues”
“Presenting the Belafonte Singers”
“Belafonte at Carnegie Hall”
“Porgy & Bess”
“Cheers: Drinking Songs Around the World”
“Love is a Gentle Thing”
“My Lord What a Mornin’”
“Swing Dat Hammer”
“Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall”
“At Home and Abroad”
“Jump up Calypso”
“The Many Moods of Belafonte”
“The Midnight Special”
“To Wish You a Merry Christmas”
“Streets I Have Walked”
“Ballads, Blues, and Boasters”
“An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba”
“Belafonte-En Granslos Kvall Pa Operan” (An Evening without Borders at the Opera House)
“Calypso in Brass”
“An Evening with Belafonte/Mouskouri”
“In My Quiet Room”
“Belafonte on Campus”
“Belafonte Sings of Love”
“Homeward Bound”
“Harry & Lena”
“By Request”
“The Warm Touch”
“Calypso Carnival”
“Belafonte…Live!”
“Play Me”
“Belafonte Concert in Japan”
“Turn the World Around
“Loving You is Where I Belong”
“Paradise in Gazankulu”
“Belafonte ‘89”
“The Tradition of Christmas”
“Christmas Memories”
“An Evening with Harry Belafonte & Friends”
“His Best Ever! Romance-Calypso-Spirituals”

Feature photo credit: Harry Belafonte Viennale2011b.jpg