Remembering 2023’s Music Losses: Harry Belafonte

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The hardest week — the first one of the year — is ending today! Congratulations on surviving it. How about some music to celebrate with? This month I’m saluting some of the music greats who passed away in 2023. Here’s one of the true legends of music, and indeed in all of entertainment. Harry Belafonte We have an EGOT! Well, asterisk. Harry Belafonte’s Oscar was a humanitarian award in 2014. That’s a “non-competitive” award, and some argue that doesn’t count in the EGOT (Emmy/Grammy/Oscar/Tony) victory. In Belafonte’s case, I’d say he earned the humanitarian award just as he earned his other awards. We’ll start there: Belafonte was a “melting pot” himself. His mother was Scottish-Jamaican and his father was Afro-Jamaican, the son of a Dutch-Jewish father and Afro-Jamaican mother. That’s the United Nations right there! That’s also probably why Belafonte was so passionate about civil rights. He marched with Rev. King (even bailing Dr. King out of jail in Birmingham on one occasion) and boycotted the racially segregated south by not performing there for nearly a decade. Along with fellow actor Sidney Poitier, Belafonte was one of the early pioneers of celebrity civil rights activism. His Tony came in 1954, for John Murray Anderson’s Almanac. In 1960 he became the first African-American to win an Emmy for his special The Revlon Review: Tonight With Belafonte. He also got two Grammy awards and a Lifetime Achievement Grammy. Other accolades include a Kennedy Center Honor. If you’re thinking you don’t know Harry Belafonte, I have two words for you (actually, just one, stretched out): DAY-O! DAY-AY-AY-OH While Belafonte’s lasting legacy in music is unquestionably “Banana Boat Song,” he did a lot of music beside that. Specializing in “calypso” style music, his popularity set the table for reggae and other world musics that came along in the 60s. Belafonte was 96 when he died of congestive heart failure on April 25, 2023. Survivors include his acting daughter Shari Belafonte. Harry Belafonte was an important figure in bridging the gap in white and black during a time America needed it most. Harry Belafonte Born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr. March 1, 1927 - April 25, 2023 (age 96) HALL OF FAME: Rock and Roll (early influence), 2022 Since you can hear “Banana Boat Song” (or at least the “day-o” part) at any baseball game, I thought I’d use another Belafonte classic, so here’s “Matilda”: