News on your favorite shows, specials & more!

Irving Burgie, Songwriter of 'Day-O', Featured in BEETLEJUICE, Has Died at Age 95

By: Dec. 01, 2019
Get Show Info Info
Cast
Photos
Videos
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

Irving Burgie, Songwriter of 'Day-O', Featured in BEETLEJUICE, Has Died at Age 95  Image

Irving Burgie, the songwriter best known for his calypso hit Day-O, has died at age 95, according to the BBC. The cause of death was a result of complications from heart failure.

Day-O was perhaps made most popular in the film Beetlejuice. The song was then brought in to the musical adaptation of the film, as the finale.

The song, written in the 1950s, was also used in other films, advertisementss and even as a wake-up call for astronauts in space. Also known as The Banana Boat Song, Day-O has been sampled by rapper Lil Wayne and singer Jason Derulo.

Burgie's songs have sold more than 100 million records worldwide.

He wrote eight of the 11 songs on Harry Belafonte's 1956 album Calypso, which was the first album in the US to sell more than a million copies. He has also worked with the likes of Jimmy Buffett, Chuck Berry and Sam Cooke.

Burgie's other well-known songs include Island in the Sun, Jamaica Farewell and Mary's Boy Child, which he co-wrote.

Read more on the BBC.

Watch the cast of Beetlejuice tribute Burgie below:







Videos