Hollywood is mourning Harry Belafonte, the Calypso singer, award-winning performer and activist, who died on April 25 of congestive heart failure at age 96.
The Caribbean-American entertainer is lauded as one of the most versatile recording artists of the 1950s and was one of the first Black leading men in cinema. He also had a fierce commitment to activism throughout the 60s and participated in numerous protests and marches including the Freedom March on Washington in 1963 (alongside his friend and actor Sidney Poitier) where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.
Tastemakers like Berry Gordy, Tony Bennett, Oprah Winfrey and more paid their respects and celebrated Belafonte’s work, calling him a “trailblazer” and “great entertainer.”
“My friend, Harry Belafonte, was truly a man of cause, conviction and principle,” said Gordy, Motown founder, in a statement. “Besides being a great entertainer, he was a major political activist during the Civil Rights Movement. I still remember the day in 1968 when Harry and I marched side by side on the Poor People’s March to Freedom. He will be missed and my sincere condolences go out to his family.”
Bennett shared a photo of himself with the late singer and reminisced on their early years together. “Met Harry in 1948 and knew then he would be a huge star. More than that, he fought for social justice and equality and never, ever gave up,” he wrote. “Our dearest of friends, he will be deeply missed by myself and so many for all he contributed to the world.”
Oprah Winfrey shared her tribute via Instagram. “Another ‘GREAT TREE’ has fallen: Harry Belafonte, a Trailblazer and Hero to us all,” she wrote in the caption with a couple of screengrabs from their 1984 interview on AM Chicago. “Thank you for your music, your artistry, your activism, your fight for civil rights and justice—especially risking your life back in the day to get money to the movement. Your being here on Earth has Blessed us all.
Dr. King’s daughter, Bernice King, shared her condolences by sharing memories of Belafonte from her childhood and uploaded a photo of him at her father’s funeral. “When I was a child, Harry Belafonte showed up for my family in very compassionate ways. In fact, he paid for the babysitter for me and my siblings,” she said in a tweet. “I won’t forget… Rest well, sir.”
Bootsy Collins also posted a friendly photo of him with Belafonte, writing: “Another brick in our fabric has risen, Mr. Harry Belafonte; (3-1-1927 – 4-25-2023) was an American singer, activist, and actor. His breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. Best known for ‘The Banana Boat Song’. R.I.P. Bootsy”
Speaking at the Time100 summit, John Legend said he and Belafonte had grown their friendship over the last decade. “If you think about what it means to be an artist and an activist, he was literally the epitome of what that was,” he said. “I don’t know if people know how much he did. So gifted as an artist, as a performer, but used his platform in almost a subversive way because he would sneak messages in there — revolutionary messages — when people thought he was just singing about good times in the islands. He was always like infusing messages of protest and revolution in everything he did, and not only that, but he used his resources. He’s one of the most successful artists of his time. He used those resources to fund the civil rights movement.”
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