Irving burgie biography

American Caribbean music composer (1924–2019)

Musical artist

Irving Louis Burgie (July 28, 1924 – November 29, 2019), sometimes known professionally as Lord Burgess,^[1] was an American musician and songwriter, regarded as one of the greatest composers of Caribbean music.^[2] He composed 34 songs for Harry Belafonte, including eight of the 11 songs on the Belafonte album Calypso (1956), the first album of any kind to sell one million copies.^[3] Burgie also wrote the lyrics of the National Anthem of Barbados.^[4] To date, songs penned by Irving Burgie have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.^{[citation needed]}

Biography

Burgie was born in Brooklyn, New York.^[5] His mother was from Barbados and his father was from Virginia.

Burgie joined the US Army in World War II, and served in Burma, China and India, where he started playing guitar and singing. After the war, he studied at the Juilliard S