Singer Harry Belafonte Passes Away at Age 96

Singer, actor, and activist Harry Belafonte died Tuesday at his home in New York of congestive heart failure, his representative Paula Witt said in a statement Tuesday morning. Known as the "King of Calypso," Belafonte will be regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century.

Belafonte was born Harold George Bellafaniti, Jr. in Harlem in 1927. His parents were both born in Jamaica, providing the young Belafonte a musical influence the whole world would eventually come to know. In fact, it was Jamaican folk songs that earned him prominence on the American music scene. A song sung by banana boat workers, "The Banana Boat Song" became Belafonte's signature hit, titled "Day-O." The song was featured on his breakthrough album, "Calypso" in 1956 and sold more than a million copies. Belafonte eventually performed in the folk and jazz music genres as well.

As a child, Belafonte lived with his grandmother in Jamaica, attending school there. He completed his education in New York when he returned as a teenager and after graduating, he enlisted in the U.S.Navy and served in WWII. Belafonte later attended acting classes at the Dramatic Workshop of the New School in New York, where he became friends with Sidney Poitier. During the 1950s Belafonte was featured on stage and in several films, along with television and concert appearances. In all, Belafonte won a Tony Award in 1954, was the first African-American to win an Emmy Award in 1960, won three Grammy Awards in the 1960s and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000, was a recipient of one of the Kennedy Center Honors for Performing Arts in 1989, and was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1994. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received a Humanitarian Oscar in 2015.

By the 1960s, Belafonte was active in the civil rights movement, serving to assist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s efforts, contributing to the 1961 Freedom Rides, supporting voter registration efforts, and helping to organize the 1963 March on Washington. He was also an outspoken opponent of the apartheid system in South Africa and supported the campaign against HIV/AIIDS there. In 1985 he was involved in helping to organize the Grammy-winning song "We Are the World" to raise funds for Africa. In 1987, Belafonte received an appointment to UNICEF as a Goodwill Ambassador.

Today, his music can still be heard on retro radio stations, including Sirius XM. Belafonte is survived by his third wife, Pamela, four children, and five grandchildren.