Singer, actor and activist Harry Belafonte died Tuesday, according to a family spokesperson. According to the same source, the cause of death was congestive heart failure. Belafonte was 96 years old and died at his home in Manhattan.
The Jamaican-born singer became one of the most popular voices in Caribbean music. He popularized genres like calypso in the 1950s. He revived folk songs such as "Day-O" in 1956, which then made its way around the world. His album that year, titled "Calypso," with other songs such as "Jamaica Farewell," remained at the top of the Billboard chart for 31 weeks. The iconic song got a second life in the late 1980s for its appearance in movies like "Beetlejuice."
Belafonte not only won recognition for his artistic career. He was also a prominent activist for black rights in the United States and a fighter against segregation in the 1940s and 1950s. He also left his mark in Hollywood. From 1953 to 2020, Belafonte participated in 30 feature films.
