Harry Belafonte

An important voice of the civil rights movement and one of the first black entertainers to be accepted by mainstream audiences, Harry Belafonte – born on March 1, 1927, in New York City, New York - stands as an iconic figure in the American arts. Trained as an actor alongside Marlon Brando and Tony Curtis at the Erwin Piscator Dramatic Workshop in New York, he turned to singing after a series of cabaret roles and first recorded with Jubilee Records in 1949. Initially he lent his silky-smooth voice to show tunes and the pop hits of the day, before discovering folk music from the Library of Congress' archives and releasing an album of traditional songs entitled Mark Twain And Other Folk Favorites (1954). Follow-up album Belafonte (1956) became his first US Number 1, but he turned his attention to championing the unknown music of his West Indian parents and became known as the King of Calypso with the hit records Calypso (1956), Belafonte Sings Songs Of The Caribbean (1957) and Jump Up Calypso (1961). A film star, humanitarian, writer, and activist, he won a Grammy Award for Swing Dat Hammer (1960) (a collection of work songs) and for An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba (1965) (a concept album about Apartheid in South Africa). In later years, Harry Belafonte worked as a UNICEF ambassador, but he will always be remembered for his signature hits “Matilda,” “The Banana Boat Song (Day-O),” “Jamaica Farewell,” and the holiday classic “Mary’s Boy Child.” Over the course of his career, he released 30 studio albums alongside several live releases, compilations, and many singles. Harry Belafonte died in New York City on April 25, 2023, at the age of 96.

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