Harry Belafonte

By mixing it with folk and pop, Harry Belafonte brought calypso music to a worldwide audience in the early 1960s, with huge hits like "The Banana Boat Song" and "Jamaica Farewell." He was the first solo artist to sell more than a million copies of a 33 RPM album, and in addition to his enormously successful recording career, Belafonte also found favour as an actor on stage and screen. Perhaps most importantly, throughout his life Belafonte has been a tireless political activist and spokesman for human rights, and has done as much as any entertainer to help make the world a better place, both with his music and his political efforts.

• pop
• latin
• world
• easy listening
• italian
• afro-cuban
• 1990s
• 1950s