Harry Belafonte Dies at 96, Leaves Behind Remarkable Legacy

The legendary Harry Belafonte died earlier Tuesday, reminding us of his ground-breaking history as a singer, actor, and activist.

According to his spokesman Ken Sunshine, Harry Belafonte died Tuesday morning in his Manhattan apartment due to congestive heart failure. The news was heartbreaking to long-time fans of the singer, as well as those who were affected by his activism.

Belafonte was recognized by President Joe Biden on Twitter following his death. The president stated his legacy “will endure forever.”

Jill and I are saddened by the passing of a groundbreaking American who used his talent and voice to help redeem the soul of our nation.

Harry Belafonte’s accomplishments are legendary and his legacy of outspoken advocacy, compassion, and respect for dignity will endure forever.

— President Biden (@POTUS) April 25, 2023

Belafonte continues to be remembered for breaking barriers. Having parents who were immigrants from the West Indies, Belafonte played a major role in popularizing Caribbean music. His greatest hits include “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” (which deemed him the ‘King of Calypso’), “Jump In the Line (Shake, Shake, Señora),” and “Jamaica Farewell.” The singer gained considerable fame in the ’50s and only continued to boom throughout the ’60s. His charming demeanor attracted audiences, and he became a highly paid and frequently booked performer. According to The New York Times, “by 1959, he was the most highly paid Black performer in history.”

Concurrent with his successful music career, the singer would find himself working in films. He starred in Carmen Jones in 1956 and would go on to star in other films such as Island in the Sun and Odds Against Tomorrow.

However, breaking glass ceilings wasn’t the only way in which Belafonte was groundbreaking. Though he faced a backlash among the perpetrators of the Jim Crow era he found himself in, Belafonte remained steadfast. “The machinery of oppression was always at work trying to discredit me, make me a communist, make me unpatriotic, etc., etc., etc. And it takes a lot of courage to stand up in the face of that onslaught, that reactive moment and not bend to the wind,” he told News One Now in an interview.

Famously, his role in Island in the Sun, released during segregation, hinted at an affair with his white counterpart, Joan Fontaine, which caused racist outrage. Though no romance was explicitly shown, the backlash was immense, considering that the film premiered a decade before interracial marriage would become legalized.

The singer and actor befriended Martin Luther King Jr. and entered the activist’s inner circle. He became an outspoken voice and supporter of the Civil Rights movement. Belafonte helped organize the famous March on Washington in 1963 and even used $50,000 to bail out Black activists who were arrested for attempting to register black voters in 1964. He would also put $60,000 toward Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1968. Later, he would go on to speak out against the apartheid in South Africa in the ’80s and was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1987.

Clearly, his outstanding legacy leaves the talented musician deeply missed. Though he is certainly remembered by his fans, friends, and family, he is also remembered by other industry legends. John Legend, Bernice King, and Tony Bennett are among the many that have expressed their grievance for the singer. “If you think about what it means to be an artist and an activist, he was literally the epitome of what that was, and I don’t know if people know how much he did,” Legend praised in a speech commemorating Belafonte at the TIME100 Summit at Jazz, shortly after news of the singer’s passing.

Oprah Winfrey shared photos on her Instagram account, calling the activist a “trailblazer” and thanking him for his humanitarianism and dedication to justice.

Belafonte’s life was inspiring and enriching, and he leaves a lasting legacy for musicians, artists, and activists everywhere. His memoir is available to purchase on Amazon.