Actor, activist and ‘Banana Boat’ singer Harry Belafonte dead at 96

Harry Belafonte, the actor, activist and singer well known for songs likeThe Banana Boat SongandJump In The Linehas died aged 96. According toThe New York Times, his spokesperson claims the cause of death was congestive heart failure.

Belafonte has often been crowned as the most successful Caribbean-American singer, and lent his voice to theUScivil rights movement. He also supported several causes in the 1960s including campaigns against poverty, apartheid and AIDS in Africa as well as support for left-wing movements including those inCubaand Venezuela.

Born in Harlem, New York in 1927 to a working class family, he first signed a record deal with RCA Victor in 1953. His breakthrough albumCalypsoin 1956, included his biggest hitDay-O (Banana Boat Song).

Tributes to the barrier-breaking singer has been pouring on on social media, with CNN anchor Christine Amanpourwriting: “May Harry Belafonte, the lionhearted civil rights hero, rest in peace. He inspired generations around the whole world in the struggle for non-violent resistance justice and change. We need his example now more than ever.”

Labour MP David Lammysaid: “It was a great joy of my life to interview the late @harrybelafonte in 2012 and later welcome him to Tottenham. His music & films lit up my childhood home and encouraged my parents. But it is for his civil rights campaigning that I hope he rests in power alongside his friend MLK.”