Harry Belafonte dead at 96: Barrier-breaking singer and actor best known for ‘The Banana Boat Song’ and ‘Jump In the Line’ turned civil-rights activist passes away at home in Manhattan
- American singer Harry Belafonte died Tuesday at his Upper West Side home at the age of 96
- The cause of death was congestive heart failure
American singer Harry Belafonte has died of congestive heart failure at the age of 96, his spokesman has confirmed.
The civil rights icon was pronounced deceased at his home in the Upper West Side of Manhattan on Tuesday.
Belafonte made a splash in Hollywood in the 1950s, becoming a star with his hit songs Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) and Jump in the Line.
His album, Calypso, was said to be the first by a single artist to sell more than 1 million copies after it reached the tip of Billboard album charts in 1956 and stayed there for more than 30 weeks straight.
That success ultimately led to leading roles in films like Carmen Jones and Island in the Sun.
But as he became more and more of a household name, Belafonte started to speak out against the racism he experienced in Hollywood as he described himself as a singer of music with ‘roots in the black culture of American Negroes, Africa and the West Indies.’
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American folk singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte, pictured in 1956, has died of congestive heart failure
