Update (August 23): Grammy voters have one week to submit their nominations for the newly renamed Harry Belafonte Best Social Change Song. The deadline for submissions is Friday, August 30.
The songwriting award recognizes songs that have had significant social influence and impact through message-driven lyrics that address timely social issues, explore subjects that affect communities in need, and promote awareness, raise consciousness and foster empathy.
Submissions for this special achievement award will be reviewed by a committee that will also select the winner. To be eligible, songs must have been commercially released within the Grammy Awards period of the past three years (October 1, 2021 – August 30, 2024).
Surprisingly, the Academy announced that songs that have previously been nominated for a Grammy or have won a Grammy in other categories are eligible to receive the honor if they meet the eligibility criteria for a commercial release, but songs previously shortlisted for Best Song for Social Change are not eligible for consideration again.
The Academy has detailed what they're looking for in this category, stating the obvious: “Songs that contain hate speech or promote violence or terrorism will be deemed ineligible.”
A full overview of eligibility and selection criteria can be found here.
Last time (July 17th): The Recording Academy has renamed the “Best Song for Social Change” award, which was created two years ago, to honor the late Harry Belafonte, who was a powerful voice for social justice throughout his career. The award will now be called “Best Song for Social Change.” The award will continue to recognize songwriters whose message-driven music speaks to contemporary social issues and has demonstrated a positive impact on the world.
“The magnitude of Harry Belafonte's artistic legacy is matched only by his profound impact in advancing social justice for all people,” Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in a statement. “We're honored to recognize his lasting impact with the Harry Belafonte Award for Best Social Change Song and continue to celebrate the work that has inspired communities around the world to make a social impact.”
“The Belafonte Foundation is incredibly honored and thrilled that the Recording Academy's Best Song for Social Change award will 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 enduring legacy in music and activism, but also inspires future generations to continue using their voices and art to fight for justice and positive change.”
The Recording Academy does not typically name its awards after individuals, but in recent years introduced the Dr. Dre Global Impact Award (the award was presented to Dre at the 2023 Grammy Awards telecast and to Jay-Z at this year's telecast).
Many people forget that the Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award was originally called the Bing Crosby Award. The legendary crooner was the first recipient in 1963. By 1972, seven other people had received the award. The award wasn't given out for 12 years, and when it was reinstated in 1984, seven years after Crosby's death in 1977, the Academy quietly removed Crosby's name from the award so that it wouldn't be tied to any particular artist or genre.
Formerly a Lifetime Achievement Award, the Harry Belafonte Best Song for Social Change will now be classified as a CEO Achievement Award, with finalists and winners selected annually by a committee made up of a community of peers dedicated to artistic expression, the craft of songwriting and the power of song to affect social change.
The first two winners of the award under its previous name were Shervin Hajipour's “Baraye” (2023) and “Refugee” by K'naan, Gerald Eaton and Steve McEwan (2024).
The current submission period for the Harry Belafonte Song of the Year for Social Change runs from July 17th to August 30th, 2024. Please see this page for guidelines and how to submit.
From his debut in the 1950s until his death in 2023 at age 96, Belafonte's artistic career ran parallel to his pioneering activism. A friend of Martin Luther King Jr. and an advisor, organizer and contributor to the civil rights movement, Belafonte helped organize the 1961 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and contributed to the 1961 Freedom Rides and the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer. Belafonte performed at President John F. Kennedy's inaugural ball in 1961 and was later appointed by Kennedy as a cultural advisor to the Peace Corps.
An advocate for global humanitarian causes, including the anti-apartheid movement, Belafonte was the primary organizer of USA for Africa's charity single “We Are the World” in 1985, which raised funds for famine relief in Africa. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks and won four Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Belafonte became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1987, traveling the world to raise awareness of the needs of children in sub-Saharan Africa.
Belafonte won two Grammy Awards for “Swing Dat Hammer” and “Swing Dat Hammer.” Belafonte/An Evening with MakebaA collaboration with South African singer Miriam Makeba.
Belafonte is not the first black artist to be nominated for Album of the Year; at the first Grammy Awards ceremony, Ella Fitzgerald Ella Fitzgerald sings the Irving Berlin Songbook. But Belafonte two It was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year at the second and third awards ceremonies. Belafonte at Carnegie Hall and Belafonte returns to Carnegie Hall.
In addition, it was his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200. BelafonteIt reached number one when it became a weekly regular on the Billboard charts in March 1956. (It had appeared sporadically prior to that.) Belafonte's third album, CalypsoIt topped the charts for 31 weeks between 1956 and 1957.
Belafonte received the Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000. Three of his recordings have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame: “Banana Boat (Day-O)” (1956) and the album Calypso (1956) Harry Belafonte at Carnegie Hall (1959).
Among his many other awards are the Kennedy Center Honors (1989) and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022 as an early influence.