Harold George Harry Belafonte Jr.
His father was from Martinique; his mother was of Jamaican descent. He was a very successful pop singer. Some call him the "King of Calypso," because he popularized this Caribbean musical style in the 1950s. Belafonte is well known for singing the "Banana Boat Song", with the words "Day-O."
Harry Belafonte | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Harold George Bellanfanti Jr. |
Born | Manhattan, New York, U.S. | March 1, 1927
Died | April 25, 2023 Manhattan, New York, U.S. | (aged 96)
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 1949–2023 |
Labels | RCA Victor CBS EMI Island |
He worked for civil rights and humanitarian causes. He criticized the policies of George W. Bush. He endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States in 2008 and Bernie Sanders for president in 2016.
Belafonte died from congestive heart failure on April 25, 2023 at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, at the age of 96.
“ | The sham engineers of the music industry, who steer the wheels of public opinion, are driving the good features of calypso into the ground. I shudder to think what these greedy men will eventually do to this true art form. | ” |
— NME - May 1957 |
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