Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff dies aged 81 ⁰

Jimmy Cliff, the Jamaican music legend and one of the pioneers of reggae, died due to a seizure followed by pneumonia, his wife said on Monday.

“It’s with profound sadness that I share that my husband, Jimmy Cliff, has crossed over due to a seizure followed by pneumonia,” his wife Latifa Chamber posted in a message on Instagram.

“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,” Chamber said.

“Jimmy, my darling, may you rest in peace. I will follow your wishes. I hope you all can respect our privacy during these hard times. Further information will be provided at a later date. See you and we see you Legend,” said the message, which was also signed by their children Lilty and Aken.

Born in Jamaica in 1944 as James Chambers, he began writing songs at a young age before his father took him to the Jamaican capital Kingston, where he would take the stage name Jimmy Cliff.

He was one of just handful of musicians to be awarded the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences.

Cliff’s vast repertoire of hits included “Many Rivers to Cross”, “You Can Get It If You Really Want”, “I Can See Clearly Now” and “Wonderful World, Beautiful People”.

‘I still have many rivers to cross’

In the course of a prolific musical career, Cliff recorded more than 30 albums and performed all over the world, including in Paris, in Brazil and at the World’s Fair, an international exhibition held in New York in 1964. The following year, Island Records’ Chris Blackwell, the producer who launched Bob Marley and the Wailers, invited Cliff to work in the UK with him.

Cliff later went into acting, starring in the 1972 classic film “The Harder They Come,” directed by Perry Henzell, which introduced an international audience to reggae music. The movie portrayed the grittier aspects of Jamaican life, redefining the island as more than a tourist playground of cocktails, beaches and waterfalls.

“When I’ve achieved all my ambitions, then I guess that I will have done it and I can just say ‘great’,” he said in a 2019 interview, as he was losing his sight.

“But I’m still hungry. I want it. I’ve still got the burning fire that burns brightly inside of me – like I just said to you. I still have many rivers to cross!”

Known in part for his hit singles as well as for his covers of Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now,” which appeared on the soundtrack of the 1993 movie “Cool Runnings,” and Cat Stevens’ “Wild World,” Cliff was a prolific writer who weaved his humanitarian views into his songs.

Bob Dylan said Cliff’s “Vietnam” was the best protest song ever written.

The anti-establishment bent of Cliff’s music gave a voice not only to the hardships faced by Jamaicans, but to the spirit and joy that persevered in spite of poverty and oppression. Over the years, Cliff worked with the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox and Paul Simon.

In 2012, he won a Grammy Award for best reggae album for “Rebirth,” which was produced by punk band Rancid’s Tim Armstrong, and another Grammy in 1984 for “Cliff Hanger.”

Cliff was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

Source: Reuters