Harry Belafonte's tunes inspired many Bollywood songs

When a legend passes, his discography lives on. While Harry Belafonte will be remembered for his civil rights activism and his music, not many know that his songs have inspired a few Bollywood films of old too. From Chamakti Ankhon Mein sung by Geeta Dutt, in Detective inspired by Belafonte’s Jamaican Farewell, to many others. The King of Calypso, a Harlem born African-American musician who died on Tuesday in Manhattan has so many tunes that resonate with all. He also inspired Itni Badi Mehfi that has his Banana Boat riff while Aaja Gori Dil Mein Rakhle Tujhe, a song sung by Kishore Kumar gets its melody from Belafonte’s Coconut Woman. There are many other songs in regional languages that have taken riffs from Belafonte's incredible musicology too.

In 1985, he got everyone together for We Are the World, an all-star musical collaboration that raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia. A civil rights activist, he led the campaign against apartheid in South Africa and in 1988.