Jimmy Cliff, reggae legend and star of The harder they comethe 1972 film and soundtrack that introduced Jamaican music to the world, has passed away.
The Jamaican musician and actor died after a seizure and a battle with pneumonia, his wife Latifa Chambers wrote on Instagram on Monday. “I am grateful to his family, friends, fellow artists and colleagues who shared his journey with him. To all his fans around the world, know that your support has been his strength throughout his career. He truly appreciated every fan for their love,” she said, before thanking Cliff’s medical staff.
The message continues: “Jimmy, my darling, may you rest in peace. I will follow your wishes. I hope you can all respect our privacy during this difficult time. More information will be provided at a later date. See you soon, Legend.” Chambers signed with his name, as well as those of his and Cliff’s daughter, Lilty, and their son, Aken.
Reggae’s first international star and one of its greatest ambassadors, Cliff achieved his first success in 1969 with the single “Wonderful World, Beautiful People”, which reached number 6 in the United Kingdom and number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
His recording of Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now”, included on the soundtrack of Cool racesthe 1993 film about the Jamaican Olympic bobsleigh team, reached #18 in January 1994.
He won the Grammys in 1985 for Best Reggae Recording (Cliff hanger) and in 2012 for best reggae album (Renaissance).
The witty Cliff was awarded the Jamaica Order of Merit, the highest honor that can be bestowed by the government for achievement in the arts and sciences, in 2003. Six years later, when he learned he was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he said: “Good for Cliff, good for Jamaican music and good for my country.” »
He and Bob Marley, posthumously inducted into the Rock Hall in 1994, are arguably reggae’s best-known practitioners.
Cliff’s career breakthrough came with the release of the soundtrack to The harder they comein which he plays Ivanhoe Martin, an ambitious singer from rural Jamaica who finds himself drawn into the world of drugs and violence in Kingston’s notorious Trenchtown ghetto.
Half of the songs were written and performed by him, including the anthem-like title track; the rollicking “You Can Get It if You Really Want,” which he first recorded in 1970; and the spiritual psalm “Many Rivers to Cross.”
The soundtrack, released in the United States by Chris Blackwell’s Mango label, launched Cliff’s career as well as that of Toots and the Maytals.
The More They Come, Jimmy Cliff, 1972
Courtesy of the Everett Collection
James Chambers, one of nine children, was born July 30, 1944, in St. James, Jamaica. “There was about a 10-year difference between all of us, and I was second to last, which wasn’t so good because the older ones could always manipulate you,” he said. The guardian in a 2012 interview.
Raised by his grandmother and father, a tailor, he moved to Kingston at the age of 14 and said he adopted his stage name to mark the heights he intended to scale with his music career. His influences growing up were Fats Domino, Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, among others.
Cliff’s first recordings were in 1962, and two of his earliest songs – “Ska All Over the World” and “Trust No Man” – were featured in the 1964 reggae anthology. Real Jamaican skareleased in the United States on Epic Records.
Working with legendary Chinese Jamaican producer Leslie Kong, Cliff released a string of hit singles in his home country throughout the ’60s, including “Hurricane Hattie,” “Miss Jamaica” and “King of Kings.” Building on these successes, he was one of the people chosen to represent his country at the New York World’s Fair in 1964.
It was Cliff who first brought Marley to Kong’s attention.
A left-handed guitarist, Cliff signed with Blackwell’s Island Records in 1965 and was groomed to be the artist who would bring reggae into the global consciousness and market.
He even moved to London to achieve this goal, and his first British album, A difficult path to travelwas released in 1967. A year later, “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” entered the top 10 in the United Kingdom while “Waterfall” became a huge hit in Brazil.
Cliff has always been a political songwriter, as evidenced by his 1970 single “Vietnam,” which received praise from Bob Dylan. The same year, his cover of Cat Stevens’ “Wild World” – featuring Stevens producing and playing piano – reached No. 8 in the UK.
He traveled to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record 1971. Another cyclewhere he experimented with a more pop/soul sound just before his breakthrough with the Jamaican set The harder they come.
Cliff had only acted in school plays when he was hired to star in The harder they comethe first film written and directed by a Jamaican (Perry Henzell). Premiering at the Venice Film Festival in 1972 and released in the United States by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures in 1975, it became a favorite of midnight moviegoers and a cult classic.
(In 1970, Desmond Dekker, a friend and fellow Jamaican whom Cliff also recommended to Kong, recorded Cliff’s “You Can Get It if You Really Want”, which reached number two on the UK singles chart).
Cliff’s 1972 single “Trapped,” also produced by Stevens, received major exposure when a cover by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band was included on the We are the world charity album in 1985.
After a last album for Island, 1973 Man in troubleCliff signed with Reprise Records for LPs such as 1975’s. Brave warrior and the 1978s Thankwhich included the call to arms song “Stand Up and Fight Back.”
In 1976, he participated in the 12th episode of Saturday evening live.
Cliff returned to reggae with 1981 Give the people what they want and the years 1982 Specialthe latter marking his debut for Columbia Records. It was recorded at Channel One Studios in Kingston with some of Jamaica’s leading producers and sound engineers.
He nicknamed his touring band Oneness, and they performed all over the world, including Africa.
Cliff returned to film in the comedy Club Paradise (1985), with Robin Williams and Peter O’Toole, contributing several songs to the soundtrack, including one featuring Elvis Costello (“Seven Day Weekend”). He later starred in the 1990 film Marked for deathwith Steven Seagal.
In 1986, Cliff and Oneness opened for Steve Winwood’s tour, and in 1993, his version of “I Can See Clearly Now” became his first top 20 American pop hit.
Singer Jimmy Cliff performs onstage on the first day of the 2012 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival at Empire Polo Field on April 13, 2012 in Indio, California.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
His 2002 album, Fantastic plastic charactersreleased only in Europe, saw him collaborate with Joe Strummer, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart and Sting. A year later, a deluxe edition of The harder they come and a two-disc Jimmy Cliff anthology were released, reinforcing his role as a world music pioneer.
He was inducted into the Rock Hall in 2010 by Wyclef Jean.
Cliff worked with Rancid singer/guitarist Tim Armstrong, who produced their 2011 EP. sacred fire and the full version from 2012 Renaissancewhich rolling stone This constitutes the strongest argument for the vitality of music of Caribbean origin that anyone has made in decades.
He showed he still has what it takes with the 2022 album Refugeeswriting the title song “because of emotional feelings towards the freedom taken away from human beings”, he said. “None of us should be forced by violence, economics, war or persecution to leave our country against our will. »
Survivors include his daughters, Black Panther actress Nabiyah Be, Odessa Chambers and Lilty Cliff, and her son Aken Cliff.
“My role has always been that of a shepherd of reggae music,” he said. “When they wanted to bring reggae to America, they sent Jimmy Cliff. When they wanted to bring reggae to England, they sent Jimmy Cliff. When they wanted to bring reggae to Africa, they sent Jimmy Cliff.”
