Grammys rename song for Social Change Award in honor of Harry Belafonte

Archive photos/Hulton Archive/GI

The Recording Academy has renamed its Best Song for Social Change award, which it first gave out two years ago, in honor of the late Harry Belafonte, who championed social justice throughout his career. The award will now be called the Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change Award and will continue to honor songwriters whose music has a powerful message that speaks to the social issues of our time and has demonstrated and inspired positive impact around the world.

“The magnitude of Harry Belafonte’s artistic legacy is surpassed by his profound impact in advancing social justice for all,” said Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, in a statement. “We are honored to recognize his enduring influence with the Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change Award and to continue to celebrate works that have inspired social action in global communities.”

“The Belafonte estate is deeply honored and thrilled that the Recording Academy’s Best Song for Social Change Award will now be renamed the Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change Award,” Belafonte’s daughters Adrienne, Shari and Gina and his third wife Pamela said in a joint statement. “This recognition not only honors Harry Belafonte’s lasting legacy in music and activism, but also inspires future generations to continue using their voices and their art for justice and positive change.”

The Recording Academy does not generally name awards after individuals, but in recent years has introduced the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award (which was presented to Dre at the 2023 Grammy broadcast and to Jay-Z at this year’s broadcast).

Many have forgotten that the Academy’s lifetime achievement award was originally called the Bing Crosby Award. The legendary crooner was the first recipient in 1963. There were seven more winners by 1972. The award was not given out for the next 12 years, but when it was reinstated in 1984, seven years after Crosby’s death in 1977, the Academy had quietly removed Crosby’s name from the award so it would not be tied to a specific artist or genre.

The Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change Award was previously a Special Merit Award and is now categorized as a CEO’s Merit Award. Finalists and award winners are selected annually by a committee comprised of like-minded individuals committed to artistic expression, the art of songwriting and the power of song to create social change.

The first two winners of the prize under its previous name were “Baraye” by Shervin Hajipour (2023) and “Refugee” by K’naan, Gerald Eaton and Steve McEwan (2024).

The submission period for the current cycle of the Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change Award is July 17 – August 30, 2024. Guidelines and the opportunity to submit entries can be found at www.Grammy.com.

From his debut in the 1950s until his death in 2023 at age 96, Belafonte’s artistic career paralleled his work as a pioneering activist. A friend of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and an advisor, organizer, and promoter of the civil rights movement, Belafonte helped organize the 1961 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and participated in the 1961 Freedom Rides and the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer. Belafonte performed at President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration ball in 1961 and was later appointed cultural adviser to the Peace Corps by Kennedy.

Belafonte, an advocate for global humanitarian causes including the anti-apartheid movement, was one of the main organizers of USA for Africa’s 1985 benefit single “We Are the World,” which raised money for famine relief in Africa. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and won four Grammy Awards, including Record and Song of the Year. Belafonte became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1987 and traveled the world raising awareness of the needs of children in sub-Saharan Africa.

Belafonte won two Grammy Awards – both in the folk category, for “Swing Dat Hammer” and An evening with Belafonte/Makebaa collaboration with the South African singer Miriam Makeba.

Belafonte was not the first black artist to receive a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year – Ella Fitzgerald was nominated at the very first Grammy Awards for Ella Fitzgerald sings the Irving Berlin Songbook. But Belafonte was the first black artist to receive two Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. He was nominated at the second and third ceremony for Belafonte at Carnegie Hall And Belafonte returns to Carnegie Hall.

In addition, he had the first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. His second album, Belafontewas at number 1 in March 1956, when it became a regular weekly hit in Billboard. (Before that, it had been released sporadically.) Belafonte’s third album, Calypsoremained at the top of these charts for 31 weeks in 1956-1957.

Belafonte received the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. Three of his recordings are in the Grammy Hall of Fame – “Banana Boat (Day-O)” (1956) and the albums Calypso (1956) Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall (1959).

His numerous other honors include the Kennedy Center Honors (1989) and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of his early influences in 2022.