Harry Belafonte
b. Harold George Belafonte, 1 March 1927, New York, USA. In recent years, the former 'King Of Calypso' has become better known for his work with UNICEF and his enterprise with USA For Africa. Prior to that, Belafonte had an extraordin arily varied life. His early career was spent as an actor, until he had time to demonstrate his silky smooth and gently relaxing singing voice. He appeared as Joe in Oscar Hammerstein's Carmen Jones, an adaptation of Carmen by Bizet, and in 1956 he was snapped up by RCA Victor. Belafonte was then at the forefront of the calypso craze which was a perfect vehicle for his happy-go-lucky folk songs. Early hits included Jamaica Farewell, Mary's Boy Child and the classic transatlantic hit Banana Boat Song with its unforgettable refrain; ‘Day-oh, dayyy-oh, daylight come and me wanna go home’. CALYPSO became the first ever album to sell a million copies, and spent 31 weeks at the top of the US charts. Belafonte continued throughout the '50s with incredible success. He was able to cross over into many markets appealing to pop, folk, jazz as well as the with ethnic population with whom he became closely associated, particularly during the civil rights movement. He appeared in many films including Island In The Sun, singing the title song and Odds Against Tomorrow. His success as an album artist was considerable; between 1956 and 1962 he was hardly ever absent from the album chart. BELAFONTE AT CARNEGIE HALL spent over three years in the charts, and similar success befell BELAFONTE RETURNS TO CARNEGIE HALL, featuring Miriam Makeba, the Chad Mitchell Trio and Odetta with the memorable recording of There's A Hole In My Bucket. Throughout the '60s Belafonte was an ambassador of human rights and a most articulate speaker at rallies and on television. His appeal as a concert hall attraction was immense, no less than seven of his albums were recorded in concert. Although his appearances in the best-sellers had stopped by the '70s he remained an active performer, recording artist and continued to appear on film, although in lightweight movies like Buck And The Preacher and Uptown Saturday Night. In the mid-'80s he was a leading light in the USA For Africa appeal and sang on We Are The World. His sterling work continued into the '90s with UNICEF. Belafonte was one of the few black artists who broke down barriers of class and race and should be counted with Martin Luther King as a major figure in achieving equal rights for blacks in America, although he did it through popular music in a less obvious way.