Legendary musician, civil rights icon and lifelong New Yorker Harry Belafonte died Tuesday, the New York Times reports.
Belafonte reportedly died of congestive heart failure. He was 96.
Belafonte was born in Harlem, the son of West Indian immigrants. He became a pioneer both as an artist and civil rights activist, first rising to stardom in 1956 with his album “Calypso,” which featured hits like “Day-O.” He would go on to become one of the most recognizable voices in American popular music.
Soon after achieving stardom, Belafonte used his fortune and notoriety to fund bedrock efforts within the civil rights movement. A friend of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Belafonte was a prolific fundraiser for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Even his most famous song, Day-O, also called “The Banana Boat Song,” was a social comment, Belafonte told NPR in 2011.
"The song is a work song," he said. "It's about men who sweat all day long, and they are underpaid. They're begging for the tallyman to come and give them an honest count: 'Count the bananas that I've picked so I can be paid.' When people sing in delight and dance and love it, they don't really understand unless they study the song — that they're singing a work song that's a song of rebellion."
As news of his death spread Tuesday, testaments to Belafonte’s life and work began pouring in on social media.
“I’m heartbroken at hearing of the death of Harry Belafonte, a true mentor & friend,” Rev. Al Sharpton tweeted shortly after the news broke. “I cherished the time he would give me & others to guide us & correct us. He was a history changing activist, a culture changing entertainer, & an unmatched intellectual.”
“An extraordinary artist, a giant of the civil rights movement, and an incredible New Yorker. He will be so dearly missed,” Gov. Kathy Hochul tweeted.
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Harry Belafonte, artist, civil rights icon and native New Yorker dead at 96 - Gothamist
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