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Jimmy Cliff, the singer-songwriter who was a presence at the birth of modern Jamaican music and helped spread the influence of reggae around the world through his albums and starring role in the landmark film The Harder They Come, has died. He was 81.
“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, said in a Facebook post from Cliff’s official account.
“I am thankful for his family, friends, fellow artists and co-workers 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,” she added.
Cliff was arguably the most important artist in the genre’s history. An oft-told story involves Cliff accompanying another teen who would become reggae’s biggest seller and most iconic figure, Bob Marley, to an audition in the early 1960s.
Respect for Cliff’s talents transcended the genre. Harry Nilsson, Little Milton and Joe Cocker were among the first artists to cover Many Rivers to Cross, a signature song from the Harder They Come soundtrack, and at the height of his popularity, Bruce Springsteen contributed a live performance cover of Cliff’s Trapped for the We Are the World soundtrack album.
Cliff would score a hit when Reggae Night charted in several countries in 1983, and his cover of Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now, from the Cool Runnings movie soundtrack, was a top-20 Billboard hit in 1993.
Cliff’s accolades include receiving the Jamaican Order of Merit in 2003, and seven years later, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“When we see Jimmy Cliff, we saw ourselves,” Haitian-born Wyclef Jean of the Fugees said in an induction speech for Cliff at the 2010 Hall of Fame ceremony.
