Legendary Jamaican musician Jimmy Cliff, a pioneering force behind reggae, ska, and rocksteady, has died at the age of 81. His wife, Latifa Chambers, announced on Facebook that the cause was a seizure followed by pneumonia.
Born James Chambers on July 30, 1944, in St. James Parish, Jamaica, Cliff moved to Kingston in the 1950s with his father to pursue a career in music. He achieved national fame at just 14 with the song Hurricane Hattie. Over a six-decade career, Cliff recorded more than 30 albums and performed worldwide, from Paris to Brazil and New York's World's Fair in 1964.
Singer-songwriter and actor
In 1972, he starred in the film The Harder They Come, which introduced reggae music to international audiences and depicted the harsh realities of Jamaican life beyond the island's tourist image. Cliff's songs, including You Can Get It If You Really Want It, Many Rivers to Cross, and his covers of I Can See Clearly Now and Wild World, combined musical innovation with humanitarian and anti-establishment themes.
His work earned him two Grammy Awards, the Order of Merit from the Jamaican government, and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. Cliff collaborated with artists including the Rolling Stones, Paul Simon, Elvis Costello, and Annie Lennox, leaving a lasting influence on global music.
Bob Dylan once called Cliff's Vietnam the best protest song ever written. Known for his enduring passion for music, Cliff continued to perform even as his eyesight declined, telling an interviewer in 2019: "I still have many rivers to cross."
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