Jimmy Cliff, the reggae pioneer and actor who preached joy, defiance and resilience, has died at age 81 from health complications, per the Associated Press. He’s known for for hits like, ‘Many Rivers to Cross,’ ‘You Can Get it If You Really Want’ and ‘Vietnam.’ Cliff also starred in the landmark movie ‘The Harder They Come.’
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Jimmy Cliff Passes Away After Suffering A Seizure & Pneumonia
Jimmy Cliff’s wife, Latifa Chambers, confirmed his death on Monday (November 24). Latifa and Cliff’s two children also posted a message on the reggae star’s social media sites. The statement revealed that he died from a “seizure followed by pneumonia.” Additional information was not immediately available.
“To all his fans around the world, please know that your support was his strength throughout his whole career,” the announcement reads in part. “He really appreciated each and every fan for their love.”
Reggae Singer Remembered For Ground Breaking ‘The Harder They Come’ Movie
Jimmy Cliff was a native Jamaican with a gift for catchphrases and topical lyrics. He joined Kingston’s emerging music scene in his teens and helped lead a movement in the 1960s that included future stars like Bob Marley, Toots Hibbert and Peter Tosh. By the early 1970s, he had accepted director Perry Henzell’s offer to star in a film about an aspiring reggae musician, Ivanhoe ‘Ivan’ Martin. Ivanhoe turns to crime when his career stalls. Henzell named the movie ‘The Harder They Come’ after suggesting the title as a possible song for Cliff.
“Ivanhoe was a real-life character for Jamaicans,” Cliff told Variety in 2022 amid the film’s 50th anniversary. “When I was a little boy, I used to hear about him as being a bad man. A real bad man. No one in Jamaica, at that time, had guns. But he had guns and shot a policeman, so he was someone to be feared. However, being a hero was the manner in which Perry wanted to make his name — an anti-hero in the way that Hollywood turns its bad guys into heroes.”
If you didn’t know, ‘The Harder They Come’ was delayed for some two years because of sometime-y funding. Still, it was the first major commercial release to come out of Jamaica. The film sold few tickets in its initial run. Now, it stands as a cultural touchstone. Its soundtrack alone is named as one of the greatest ever, but also a turning point in reggae’s worldwide rise.
What Else To Know About Jimmy’s Career
Jimmy Cliff’s career reportedly peaked with ‘The Harder They Come.’ However, after a break in the late 1970s, he worked steadily for decades—from session work with the Rolling Stones to collabs with Wyclef Jean, Sting and Annie Lennox among others.
Meanwhile, his early music lived on. The Sandinistas in Nicaragua used ‘You Can Get it If You Really Want’ as a campaign theme and Bruce Springsteen helped expand Cliff’s U.S. audience with his live cover of the reggae star’s ‘Trapped.’ Others performing his songs included John Lennon, Cher and UB40.
Additionally, Jimmy Cliff earned seven Grammy nominations and won twice for best reggae album. His first win was in 1986 for ‘Cliff Hanger’ and in 2012 for the well-named ‘Rebirth,’ which many called his best work in years. His other albums included the Grammy-nominated ‘The Power and the Glory,’ ‘Humanitarian’ and the 2022 release ‘Refugees.’ Also, he performed on Steve Van Zandt’s protest anthem, ‘Sun City,’ and acted in the Robin Williams comedy ‘Club Paradise,’ for which he contributed a handful of songs to the soundtrack. He sang with Elvis Costello on the rocker ‘Seven Day Weekend.’
Jimmy Cliff’s other honors included induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Jamaica’s Order of Merit. In 2019, the Jamaican government renamed Montego Bay’s popular “hip strip” roadway Jimmy Cliff Boulevard. Two years later, Jamaican officials presented Cliff with an official passport in recognition of his status as a Reggae Ambassador.
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Associated Press National Writer Hillel Italie and AP journalist John Myers Jr. in Kingston, Jamaica, contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
