Harry Belafonte dead at 96: Barrier-breaking singer and actor passes away at home in Manhattan

Harry Belafonte dead at 96: Barrier-breaking singer and actor best known for ‘The Banana Boat Song’ and ‘Jump In the Line’ turned civil rights activist dies at home in Manhattan

  • American singer Harry Belafonte died on Tuesday at the age of 96 at his home in the Upper West Side
  • The cause of death was congestive heart failure

American singer Harry Belafonte has died at the age of 96 from congestive heart failure, his spokesman has confirmed.

The civil rights icon was pronounced dead Tuesday at his home in Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Belafonte made an impact in Hollywood at a time of heightened racial tension in the 1950s and 1960s, rising to stardom with his hits The Banana Boat Song and Jump in the Line.

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American folk singer and civil rights activist Harry Belafonte, photographed in 1956, has died of congestive heart failure