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News
Mar 22, 2024
Julie Robinson Belafonte (1928–2024), actress and activist
Julie Robinson Belafonte was an actress and activist best known as the longtime wife of .
News
Apr 25, 2023
Harry Belafonte (1927–2023), legendary singer, actor, and activist
Harry Belafonte was the “King of Calypso,” a singer known for his signature song, “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song),” as well as an actor and a prominent civil rights activist.
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News
Dec 3, 2019
Irving Burgie (1924–2019), “Day-O” songwriter
Irving Burgie wrote the calypso song “Day-O” (aka “The Banana Boat Song”) which became a huge hit for singer Harry Belafonte in 1956. Burgie, who went by the name Lord Burgess, co-wrote the song with William Attaway, based on a traditional Jamaican folk song. “Day-O” spent 31 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard chart and later was featured in a popular scene in the movie “Beetlejuice.” He wrote many more calypso songs for Belafonte including “Island in the Sun.” Burgie was a member of an all-black unit in the Army during World War II. After the war, he worked the folk music circuit in Greenwich Village and then began writing for Belafonte. His mother was a native of Barbados and Burgie wrote the country’s national anthem. He was elected to the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.
