Harry Belafonte, singer, actor and tireless activist, dies aged 96

Chart-topping singer who supported US civil rights movement and African initiatives dies following congestive heart failure

Harry Belafonte, the singer, actor and wide-ranging activist, has died aged 96. The cause of death was congestive heart failure, his spokesman told the New York Times.

As well as performing global hits such as Day-O (The Banana Boat Song), winning a Tony award for acting and appearing in numerous feature films, Belafonte spent his life fighting for a variety of causes. He bankrolled numerous 1960s initiatives to bring civil rights to Black Americans; campaigned against poverty, apartheid and Aids in Africa; and supported leftwing political figures such as Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.