Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff is dead at 81, his family announced Monday.
“It’s with profound sadness that I share that my husband, Jimmy Cliff, has crossed over due to a seizure followed by pneumonia,” Cliff’s wife, Latifa Chambers, said in a statement.
“I am thankful for his family, friends, fellow artists and coworkers who have shared his journey with him. To all his fans around the world, please know that your support was his strength throughout his whole career. Jimmy, my darling, may you rest in peace. I will follow your wishes.”
Cliff was a Jamaican singer, songwriter and actor who had a string of hits in the 1960s and ‘70s, including “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” “Many Rivers to Cross” and “Reggae Night.” He helped popularize reggae music around the world with “The Harder They Come,” starring in the 1972 movie and performing the title track.
“The film opened the door for Jamaica,” Cliff told the BBC. “It said, ‘This is where this music comes from.’”
According to the BBC, Cliff was born James Chambers in 1948, changing his surname to “Cliff” to express the heights he intended on reaching. He moved to London in 1965 to work with Island Records, later the music label behind Bob Marley, and scored his first gold hit in 1969 with “Wonderful World, Beautiful People.”
NBC notes Cliff and Marley are the only two reggae musicians who have been inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was nominated for seven Grammy Awards, winning two Grammys including Best Reggae Album with 2012’s “Rebirth.”
Cliff worked with big names like the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon; was covered by Willie Nelson and Bruce Springsteen; and Cliff’s “Vietnam” was named “the best protest song ever written” by Bob Dylan. Cliff also brought his own style to covers of songs like Cat Stevens’ “Wild World,” “Hakuna Matata” (from “The Lion King”) and Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now” (featured in “Cool Runnings”).
