Family and fans pay tribute to the reggae star behind The Harder They Come and global hits.
Tributes poured in worldwide after the family of Jimmy Cliff confirmed his death after he suffered a seizure.
The 81-year-old also contracted pneumonia, with his wife Latifa Chambers sharing the news of his demise online in a brief statement of thanks.
His death ends a six-decade career as one of reggae music’s most important and internationally influential figures.
Cliff was widely praised as a “reggae pioneer” and a “global ambassador” for Jamaican music and culture.
His songs travelled because people passed them around, long before reggae had any real push overseas.
He first came into limelight in the late 60s with Wonderful World, Beautiful People. You Can Get It If You Really Want came soon after and stuck. The sound was upbeat on the surface, but the lines he wrote often came from tough places. You could hear everyday life in them.
He grew up in a big family in St James, Jamaica. He later moved to Kingston to pursue music. He played wherever he could until producers started noticing him.
His early work with producer Leslie Kong led him to be noticed through local radio, long before he arrived in London in the mid-60s.
He experienced racism and feeling cut off from home. But that did not stop him from releasing music. By the early 70s, he had become the household name fot many listeners outside Jamaica.
Cliff later found new fame with I Can See Clearly Now from Cool Runnings. He won two Grammys, joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, and kept recording, including Rebirth with Tim Armstrong and 2022’s Refugees with Wyclef Jean.
He also starred in the landmark 1972 film The Harder They Come, a cornerstone of Jamaican cinema that helped bring reggae to international audiences.
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