Belafonte's own career would begin some two decades later, with a breakthrough in the theatre scene that led to a Tony Award in 1954.Ī noted singer, he released his first notable single, " Matilda," in 1953, before his " Calypso" album three years later - the first in the world to sell a million copies within a year. to mixed-race Jamaican parents in 1927, amid the Harlem Renaissance and its flourish of Black arts heavyweights. He's left a shining example of what love, community and commitment looks like."īest known as the popularizer of the calypso genre of music, the Harlem native was born Harold George Bellanfanti, Jr. "While today I know his fans, friends and family are saddened by his passing, our family will be forever grateful for his legacy and leadership. B was unfettered in his commitment to improving the lives of oppressed people across the globe," his daughter Gina said in a statement via the Sankofa Justice & Equity Fund, Belafonte's legacy foundation. "Whether he was breaking barriers as a young musician, supporting civil rights activists in the 1960s, or convening (and calling-in) the next generation of leaders and artists, Mr. Harry Belafonte, the famed Black entertainer and activist whose voice adorns several of the mid-20th century's most famous recordings, died of heart failure on April 25 in New York.
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