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Jimmy Cliff | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cliff performing in 2012 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | James Chambers 30 July 1944 St. James, Colony of Jamaica |
| Died | 24 November 2025 (aged 81) |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments | |
| Years active | 1962–2025 |
| Labels | |
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Jimmy Cliff (born July 30, 1944, Somerton, Saint James, Jamaica—died November 24, 2025) was a Jamaican singer and songwriter who was instrumental in introducing reggae to an international audience, largely through his performance in the landmark film The Harder They Come (1972).
Early life
Born James Chambers in 1944, just into his teens he took the stage name Jimmy Cliff and began recording soon after moving from the countryside to Kingston. Cliff made several singles before topping the Jamaican charts with his own composition, “Hurricane Hattie,” one of his earliest efforts for Leslie Kong’s Beverly Records. He had several more hits that combined pop and ska influences.
Move to London, The Harder They Come, and reggae stardom
After relocating to London in 1965 at the behest of Chris Blackwell of Island Records, Cliff broadened his musical approach to incorporate soul and rhythm and blues as he moved in the direction of reggae. Of his time in London, he later said, “I experienced racism in a manner I had never experienced before,” and he struggled with expectations that he tone down his Jamaican patois to suit a broader audience.
By the late 1960s he was a favorite in South America (having won a prize at a festival in Brazil with his song “Waterfall”), and his album Wonderful World, Beautiful People (1970) was an international hit as well as the record that prompted Paul Simon to investigate reggae. As the star of The Harder They Come—he contributed to its soundtrack the classics “Many Rivers to Cross,” “Sitting in Limbo,” and the title song—Cliff became reggae’s biggest star.
In an interview with The Guardian in 2021, Cliff said, “The Harder They Come did so much to bring [reggae] to the world.…It showed the hardship that went with the music, and the joy and celebration of those same people. It gave the music depth and got Jamaican music a lot of respect around the world.”
Later career
Although his success in Jamaica, Britain, and the United States was soon eclipsed by that of Bob Marley, Cliff remained extremely popular in Africa and South America, and his 1993 cover of Johnny Nash’s pop-reggae hit “I Can See Clearly Now” for the comedy sports film Cool Runnings helped renew his broader popularity. His other recordings include the Grammy Award-winning albums Cliff Hanger (1985; on which he collaborated, not for the first or last time, with Kool & the Gang) and Rebirth (2012). Black Magic (2004) is an album of duets with Sting, Annie Lennox, Wyclef Jean, and other musicians. In 2022 he reteamed with Jean for the album Refugees.
Honors
Cliff was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. Ten years later the U.S. Library of Congress added the soundtrack of The Harder They Come to the National Recording Registry, a list of audio recordings deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Cliff’s other honors include receiving the Order of Merit (2003) from the Jamaican government.
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James Chambers (30 July 1944 – 24 November 2025), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician. He was considered to be one of Jamaica's most celebrated musicians and was credited with helping to popularise reggae music internationally. At the time of his death he was the 4th reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences. He was also nominated seven times for the Grammy Awards, winning twice.
Cliff starred in The Harder They Come (1972), the first major commercial film from Jamaica. The soundtrack helped to make reggae widely known.[2] He was known for such songs as "Many Rivers to Cross", "If I Follow My Mind", "You Can Get It If You Really Want", "The Harder They Come", "Reggae Night", and his covers of Cat Stevens's "Wild World", Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" (from the Cool Runnings soundtrack) and "Hakuna Matata". Cliff was one of five performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. He is one of only two Jamaicans in the Hall of Fame, the other being Bob Marley.
Jimmy Cliff made deliberate, multifaceted efforts to reach across cultural and racial lines and appeal to a mainstream audience. He pursued strategic record deals that gave him access to the primarily white UK market,[3] covered well-known pop and rock songs such as Cat Stevens' "Wild World", which reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart in 1970,[4] and placed his music in popular films including the 1988 hit Cocktail, which featured his song "Shelter of Your Love".[5] Through these efforts Cliff reached a broader global audience while remaining true to his reggae roots, and was widely credited with helping to popularize reggae worldwide.[6][7]
Early life and education
Jimmy Cliff was born James Chambers on 30 July 1944 in Saint James, Colony of Jamaica, the second youngest of nine children.[8][9][10] He began writing songs while still at primary school in St. James, listening to a neighbour's sound system. When he was 14 years old his father took him to Kingston, where he adopted the stage name Jimmy Cliff,[11] "an allusion to the career heights he hoped to scale."[2]
Career
1960s and 1970s
Cliff sought out producers while he was still at school, trying without success to get his songs recorded, and he entered talent contests. "One night I was walking past a record store and restaurant as they were closing, pushed myself in and convinced one of them, Leslie Kong, to go into the recording business, starting with me", Cliff wrote in his own website biography.[12] After two singles that failed to make much impression, his career took off when "Hurricane Hattie" became a hit when he was 17.[13] The record was produced by Kong, with whom Cliff remained until Kong's death from a heart attack in 1971.[14]
Cliff's later local hit singles included "King of Kings", "Dearest Beverley", "Miss Jamaica", and "Pride and Passion". In 1964 he was chosen as one of Jamaica's representatives at the 1964 New York World's Fair. That same year Cliff was featured in a program called This is Ska! alongside Prince Buster, Toots and the Maytals, and Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.[15]
He signed to Island Records and moved to the United Kingdom.[13] Island Records initially (and unsuccessfully) tried to sell Cliff to the rock audience. His career took off in the late 1960s[16] and his international debut album, Hard Road to Travel, was released in 1967. It received excellent reviews and included "Waterfall" (composed by Nirvana's Alex Spyropoulos and Patrick Campbell-Lyons), which became a hit in Brazil and won the International Song Festival.[13]
"Waterfall" was followed in 1969 by "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" and "Vietnam" in 1970, both popular throughout most of the world. He released "Many Rivers to Cross" about his struggles with the music industry in 1969. The song was covered by many other artists including Cher, UB40, and John Lennon.[17] Cliff also released a cover of Cat Stevens's "Wild World" as a single.[18]
In 1972, Cliff starred as Vincent "Ivanhoe" Martin (known as Rhyging) in Perry Henzell's classic reggae film The Harder They Come.[19] As the film tells Martin's story, he is a young man without funds. Arriving in Kingston from the country, he tries to make it in the recording business but without success. Eventually he turns to a life of crime. The soundtrack album sold well around the world, bringing reggae to an international audience for the first time.[20] When it was released the film broke box office records in Jamaica[17] and remains one of the most internationally significant films to have come out of Jamaica since the nation's independence from the United Kingdom. The film made its debut at London's Gaumont cinema in Notting Hill on 1 September 1972.[20] Paul Simon recorded "Mother and Child Reunion" with Cliff's backing band.[17]
In 1976, Cliff sang on the first season of Saturday Night Live, episode 12, hosted by Dick Cavett. After a series of albums, Cliff took a break and travelled to Africa. The Nigeria-based Jamaican writer Lindsay Barrett was instrumental in his first trip there[21] and subsequently converted to Islam, taking the name of El Hadj Naïm Bachir.[22][23]
1980s and 1990s
Cliff returned to music and toured for several years before recording with Kool & the Gang. He had a big hit with "Reggae Night" in 1983. In 1984 heappeared at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, Netherlands. During The River Tour, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band added Cliff's previously little-known song "Trapped" to their live set. It achieved greater prominence when it was included on 1985's We Are the World benefit album.[24] The follow-up, Cliff Hanger (1985), won a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. It was his last major success in the United States until 1993. Also in 1985, Cliff contributed to the song "Sun City", a protest song written and composed by Steven Van Zandt and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to express opposition to the South African policy of apartheid.[25]
Cliff provided backing vocals on The Rolling Stones' 1986 album Dirty Work. He co-starred in the comedy Club Paradise with Robin Williams and Peter O'Toole[26] and contributed several songs to the soundtrack, duetting with Elvis Costello on "Seven Day Weekend". Cliff toured North America with Steve Winwood for two months as the opening act during August–October 1986.[27] His song "Shelter of Your Love" was featured in the 1988 film Cocktail.[28]
Cliff appeared in the film Marked for Death in 1990, performing "John Crow" with the Jimmy Cliff Band.[29] His recording of "You Can Get It If You Really Want" was used as a campaign anthem by the Sandinista National Liberation Front in the 1990 election in Nicaragua.[30] In 1991, he performed at the second Rock in Rio festival in Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He continued to sell well in Jamaica and to a lesser extent in the UK, returning to the mainstream pop charts in the US and elsewhere (#1 in France) with a version of Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" on the Cool Runnings soundtrack in 1993.[31] In 1995 Cliff released a collaboration with Lebo M, the single "Hakuna Matata", a song from the soundtrack of The Lion King.[32]
2000 to 2025
In 2001, Cliff became an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists.[33] In 2002 he released the album Fantastic Plastic People in Europe, after first providing free downloads using p2p software.[34] This album featured collaborations with Joe Strummer, Annie Lennox, and Sting, as well as new songs that were reminiscent of Cliff's original hits. In 2004, Cliff completely reworked the songs, dropping the reggae in favour of an electronic sound, for inclusion in Black Magic. The album also included a recording of "Over the Border" with Strummer. Cliff performed at the closing ceremony to the 2002 Commonwealth Games. In 2003, "You Can Get It If You Really Want" was included in the soundtrack to the film Something's Gotta Give. He appeared in July 2003 at the Paléo Festival in Nyon, Switzerland. The Jamaican government under P. J. Patterson honoured Cliff on 20 October 2003 by awarding him The Order of Merit, the nation's fourth-highest honour, in recognition of his contributions to the film and music of Jamaica.[24]
Cliff performed at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Cricket World Cup. That year, "You Can Get It If You Really Want" was adopted by the British Conservative Party during their annual conference.[30] He was quoted in The Independent as saying: "One of my band mates called me this morning to tell me the news. I can't stop them using the song, but I'm not a supporter of politics. I have heard of Cameron, but I'm not a supporter. I don't support any politician. I just believe in right or wrong."[30]
In September 2009, Cliff was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, following a campaign on his behalf by the American Charles Earle.[35] Cliff reacted to the news by saying, "This is good for Cliff, good for Jamaican music and good for my country." On 15 December 2009, he was announced as an inductee and was inducted on 15 March 2010 by Wyclef Jean.[36] Cliff is one of only two Jamaicans in the Hall of Fame, the other being Bob Marley.[37] In the spring and summer of 2010 he embarked on an extensive tour of the U.S. and Canada.
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Cliff appeared in the 2011 documentary Reggae Got Soul: The Story of Toots and the Maytals, which was featured on BBC.[38][39][40] In 2011, Cliff worked with producer Tim Armstrong, lead singer of American punk band Rancid, on the EP The Sacred Fire[41] and the full-length album Rebirth.[42] Rebirth won a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.[43] The album was listed at number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the top 50 albums of 2012 with the description: "There's ska, rock steady, roots reggae, a revelatory cover of The Clash's 'Guns of Brixton' delivered in Cliff's trademark soulful tenor, grittier but still lovely more than 40 years after his debut."[44]
In December 2012, Cliff was named Artist of the Year by digital newspaper Caribbean Journal, citing his work on Rebirth.[45] In August 2022, Cliff released the album Refugees.[46]
Personal life and death
Cliff was briefly a member of the Rastafari movement before converting to Islam from Christianity.[47] In a 2013 interview he said he had a "universal outlook on life" and did not align himself with any particular movement or religion,[47][48] adding, "now I believe in science".[47] Cliff was married and had several children. From a relationship with the British film director Bluette Abrahams he fathered a daughter, Odessa Chambers.[49] From his marriage to Latifa Chambers, a daughter Lilty and son Aken.[24] In 1992 he became the father to the Brazilian actress/singer Nabiyah Be through a relationship with the psychologist Sônia Gomes.[50][51]
On 24 November 2025, Cliff's wife announced that he had died that morning from pneumonia. He had been hospitalised following a seizure. He was 81.[52][53] Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in a public statement after his death, said that Cliff's music "lifted people through hard times, inspired generations, and helped to shape the global respect that Jamaica enjoys today."[37]
Legacy
Cliff was considered one of Jamaica's most celebrated musicians and is credited with having helped to popularise reggae internationally.[17][54][55] He was briefly described as rivalling Bob Marley as the most prominent musician in the genre.[56] Writing for The Guardian, David Katz called him an "itinerant ambassador who introduced the music and culture of his island to audiences across the globe",[17] and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's website described him as "reggae's first champion".[55] Bob Dylan called "Vietnam" the best protest song he had ever heard.[12] Cliff was nominated for the Grammy Awards seven times and won twice, both wins being for Best Reggae Album.[37][57] He also received the Order of Merit, the country's highest honor for the arts and sciences.[58]
Cliff's role in The Harder They Come received praise[57] and the film's soundtrack was credited with spreading reggae music's influence outside of Jamaica.[37][54][58] The film was also the first major commercial film release from the country.[56] The Grammy Awards, in an appraisal of the soundtrack fifty years after the film's release, wrote that his performance was "riveting and authentic", while recognizing that parts of the film were based on things Cliff had personally seen.[57] In 2020, the soundtrack was added to the United States Library of Congress's National Recording Registry.[59] Cliff recalled, "When someone comes up to me and says, 'I was a dropout in school and I heard your song "You Can Get It If You Really Want", and that song made me go back to school, and now I am a teacher and I use your song with my students' — that, for me, is a big success."[2]
Discography
This is a list of Cliff's main albums, compilations and singles.[60]
Albums
| Year | Title | Peak positions | Certification | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA [61] | NLD [62] | NZ [63] | SWE [64] | SWI [65] | UK [66] | US [67] | US Reggae [67] | |||
| 1967 | Hard Road to Travel[A] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1968 | Jimmy Cliff in Brazil[B] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1969 | Jimmy Cliff[C] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1971 | Goodbye Yesterday[D] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Another Cycle | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1972 | The Harder They Come | — | — | — | 5 | — | — | 140 | — | |
| 1973 | Unlimited[E] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Struggling Man[F] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974 | Music Maker[G] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1975 | Brave Warrior | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Follow My Mind | — | — | — | — | — | — | 195 | — | ||
| 1978 | Give Thankx | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1980 | I Am the Living | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1981 | Give the People What They Want | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1982 | Special | — | 29 | — | — | — | — | 186 | — | |
| 1983 | The Power and the Glory | 17 | 29 | 25 | — | — | — | — | — |
|
| 1985 | Cliff Hanger | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1987 | Hanging Fire | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Shout for Freedom | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989 | Images | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1992 | Breakout[H] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1996 | Higher & Higher[I] | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|
| 1998 | Journey of a Lifetime | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1999 | Humanitarian | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2002 | Fantastic Plastic People | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2004 | Black Magic | 139 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 11 | |
| 2012 | Rebirth | — | — | — | — | 71 | 83 | 76 | 1 | |
| 2022 | Refugees | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Notes
- A. ^ Hard Road to Travel was released as Can't Get Enough of It in Jamaica in 1968 with minor changes in track listing.
- B. ^ Jimmy Cliff in Brazil consisted of new recordings as well as songs from Hard Road to Travel and Can't Get Enough of It. It was re-released in 1994.
- C. ^ Jimmy Cliff was released as Wonderful World, Beautiful People in the US in 1970.
- D. ^ Goodbye Yesterday was released as Two Worlds in Jamaica with minor changes in track listing.
- E. ^ Unlimited was re-released as The King of Reggae in 1976.
- F. ^ Struggling Man consisted of new recordings as well as songs from Wild World.
- G. ^ Music Maker was released as House of Exile in some territories.
- H. ^ Breakout was re-released as Samba Reggae in some territories in 1999 with minor changes in track listing.
- I. ^ Higher & Higher consists of new recordings as well as previously released material.
Compilations and live albums
| Year | Title | Peak positions | Certification | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BEL (Wa) [69] | FRA [61] | GER [70] | SWE [64] | US Reggae [67] | |||
| 1975 | The Best of Jimmy Cliff | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Pop Chronik | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1976 | In Concert: The Best of Jimmy Cliff | — | — | — | 21 | — | |
| 1979 | Oh Jamaica | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1981 | Collection | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1982 | Reggae Nights: The Best of Jimmy Cliff | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1985 | Reggae Greats | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1987 | Fundamental Reggay | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1988 | The Best Of | — | 7 | — | — | — |
|
| 1994 | Gold Collection | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1995 | Reggae Classics: The Very Best of Jimmy Cliff | 47 | — | 57 | — | — | |
| Many Rivers to Cross | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Definitive Collection | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Reggae Man | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Vol. 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996 | Best of Jimmy Cliff[J] | — | — | — | — | — |
|
| 1997 | Super Hits | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Jimmy Cliff | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 100% Pure Reggae | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999 | Ultimate Collection | — | — | — | — | 8 | |
| Millenium Collection | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Wonderful World Beautiful People | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000 | Simply the Best | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Super Best | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Wanted | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| The Messenger: The Very Best of Reggae's Original Soul Star | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Wonderful World | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001 | Les Indispensables de Jimmy Cliff | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2002 | We All Are One: The Best of Jimmy Cliff | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2003 | Many Rivers to Cross: The Best of Jimmy Cliff | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Anthology | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Island Reggae Classics | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004 | 20th Century Masters | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Reggae Night | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| This Is Crucial Reggae | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| The EMI Years 1973–1975 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Timeless Hits | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2005 | The Harder They Come: The Definitive Collection | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2006 | The Essential Jimmy Cliff | — | — | — | — | — | |
| The Very Best of Jimmy Cliff & Peter Tosh[J] | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| The Harder They Come: The Early Years 1962–1972 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Better Days Are Coming: The A&M Years 1969–1971 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008 | King of Kings: The Very Best of Jimmy Cliff | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Reggae Legends | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2010 | Harder Road to Travel: The Collection | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2013 | Jimmy Cliff | — | — | — | — | — | |
| The KCRW Session | — | — | — | — | 4 | ||
| Icon | — | — | — | — | 15 | ||
- Notes
- J. ^ Best of Jimmy Cliff and The Very Best of Jimmy Cliff & Peter Tosh charted in French Compilations Chart, at number 1 and 5 respectively.
Singles
| Year | Title | Peak positions | Album | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS [71][72] | AUT [73] | BEL (Vl) [74] | BEL (Wa) [69] | FRA [75][76] | GER [70] | IRE [77] | ITA | NLD [62] | NZ [63] | SWI [65] | UK [66] | US [67] | |||
| 1962 | "Hurricane Hatty" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Harder Road to Travel: The Collection |
| "Miss Jamaica" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Since Lately" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1963 | "King of Kings" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "My Lucky Day" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "The Man" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1966 | "Pride and Passion" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hard Road to Travel |
| 1967 | "Give and Take" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "I Got a Feeling" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "That's the Way Life Goes" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Jimmy Cliff | |
| 1968 | "Vietnam" | — | — | — | — | — | 15 | — | — | 26 | — | — | 46 | — | |
| 1969 | "Waterfall" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Harder They Come |
| "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" | 30 | — | 13 | — | — | — | 17 | — | 12 | — | — | 6 | 25 | Jimmy Cliff | |
| 1970 | "Come into My Life" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 21 | — | — | — | — | 89 | |
| "Sufferin' in the Land" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 26 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Where Did It Go" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Essential Jimmy Cliff | |
| "Wild World" | 31 | 20 | 7 | — | 51 | — | 11 | 17 | 3 | — | 2 | 8 | — | Wild World | |
| "You Can Get It If You Really Want" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Jimmy Cliff | |
| "Synthetic World" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Goodbye Yesterday | |
| 1971 | "Goodbye Yesterday" | — | — | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | 25 | — | — | — | — | |
| "Those Good Good Old Days" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Struggling Man | |
| "Sitting in Limbo" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Another Cycle | |
| 1972 | "The Harder They Come" | — | — | — | — | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Harder They Come |
| "Struggling Man" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Struggling Man | |
| 1973 | "Let's Seize the Time" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "On My Life" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Unlimited | |
| "Fundamental Reggay" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Oh Jamaica" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1974 | "Music Maker" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Music Maker |
| "Look What You Done to My Life, Devil Woman" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Money Won't Save You" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Don't Let It Die" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Brave Warrior | |
| 1975 | "Every Tub" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "If I Follow My Mind" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Follow My Mind | |
| 1976 | "Look at the Mountains" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Dear Mother" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1977 | "Material World" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Give the People What They Want |
| "Deal with Life" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only | |
| 1978 | "Treat the Youths Right" | — | — | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | Special |
| "Bongo Man" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Give Thankx | |
| "Stand Up and Fight Back" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1979 | "Love I Need" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1980 | "All the Strength We Got" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | I Am the Living |
| "Another Summer" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "I Am the Living" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1981 | "Son of Man" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Give the People What They Want |
| "Shelter of Your Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "My Philosophy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1982 | "Rub-A-Dub Partner" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Special |
| "Love Is All" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Special" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Roots Radical" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Peace Officer" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Love Heights" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1983 | "Reggae Night" | 55 | — | 5 | — | 2 | 35 | — | 8 | 6 | 1 | — | 91 | — | The Power and the Glory |
| "We All Are One" | — | — | 24 | — | 15 | — | — | — | 33 | 48 | — | 93 | — | ||
| "Sunshine in the Music" | — | — | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984 | "Reggae Movement" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only |
| "Black Bess" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "De Youths Dem a Bawl" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1985 | "Hot Shot" | — | — | — | — | 24 | — | — | 42 | — | — | — | — | — | Cliff Hanger |
| "American Sweet" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Reggae Street" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986 | "Seven-Day Weekend" (with Elvis Costello) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Club Paradise |
| "Club Paradise" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987 | "Roots Girl (Step Aside)" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only |
| "Rebel in Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Images | |
| "Hanging Fire" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hanging Fire | |
| "Reggae Down Babylon" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Soar Like an Eagle" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988 | "Love Me Love Me" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1989 | "Pressure on Botha" (with Josey Wales) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Images |
| "Trapped" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Dance Reggae Dance" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Save Our Planet Earth | |
| "Save Our Planet Earth" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992 | "Breakout" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | Breakout |
| "I'm a Winner" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Peace" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1993 | "Samba Reggae" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Many Rivers to Cross" | — | — | — | — | 37 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Jimmy Cliff | |
| "I Can See Clearly Now" | 17 | — | 32 | — | 1 | 52 | — | — | 39 | 1 | — | 23 | 18 | Cool Runnings: Music from the Motion Picture | |
| 1994 | "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" | — | — | — | — | — | 52 | — | — | — | 31 | — | — | 117 | Higher & Higher |
| 1995 | "Hakuna Matata" (with Lebo M) | — | — | 46 | 6 | 7 | 77 | — | — | 10 | — | 32 | — | 105 | Rhythm of the Pride Lands |
| "Melody Tempo Harmony" (with Bernard Lavilliers) | — | — | — | 22 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only | |
| 1999 | "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Humanitarian |
| 2002 | "Fantastic Plastic People" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Fantastic Plastic People |
| 2004 | "Jamaica Time" (with David A. Stewart) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Black Magic |
| 2011 | "Guns of Brixton" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Sacred Fire EP |
| 2012 | "One More" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Rebirth |
| 2013 | "C'mon Get Happy" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only |
See also
- Caribbean music in the United Kingdom
- List of converts to Islam
- List of former Island Records artists
- List of Jamaicans
- List of reggae musicians
- List of roots reggae artists
- List of singer-songwriters
References
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Jimmy Cliff, Singer Who Helped Bring Reggae to Global Audience, Dies at 81
His Grammy-winning records as well as his starring role in the cult movie “The Harder They Come” in 1972 boosted a career spanning seven decades.
Jimmy Cliff, a onetime choirboy who emerged from the rough quarters of Kingston, Jamaica, riding a rebel spirit and a fierce sense of social justice to help make the supple, bobbing sounds of reggae a global phenomenon with songs like “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and “The Harder They Come,” has died. He was 81.
Mr. Cliff’s wife, Latifa Chambers, announced his death in an online post early Monday. She said the cause was a seizure followed by pneumonia. Fueled by his searing performance as a musician-turned-outlaw in the 1972 film “The Harder They Come,” Mr. Cliff became the first worldwide reggae star.
But he set his sights even higher. Over the years, his musical journey encompassed ska, rocksteady, pop, soul and other genres. “I didn’t really want to be known just as the King of Reggae,” he said in a 2004 interview with The Washington Post. “I actually wanted to be known as the King of Music!”
Among his signature songs are the gospel-inflected “Many Rivers to Cross,” the anthemic “Wonderful World, Beautiful People,” the feel-good tune “Reggae Night,” and “Vietnam,” which Bob Dylan deemed one of the greatest protest songs.
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He also recorded several notable covers, including Cat Stevens’s “Wild World.” His version of Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now” was featured in the 1993 family comedy “Cool Runnings,” about the Jamaican bobsled team that gained international fame at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta.
Mr. Cliff won two Grammy Awards over his decades-long career: best reggae recording in 1986 for “Cliff Hanger” and best reggae album in 2013 for “Rebirth.”
In addition to his own celebrated recording career, he is credited with helping to pave a path for Bob Marley and others to leverage reggae’s rhythms in spreading a universal message of defiance and hope.
Following his death, Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica called him “a true cultural giant whose music carried the heart of our nation to the world.”
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“The Harder They Come” became a cult favorite in the United States, running for years in midnight slots at theaters. Mr. Cliff, in the lead role, played Ivanhoe Martin, who abandons an impoverished life in the Jamaican countryside for the capital city of Kingston. Hoping to rise from the city’s shantytowns to music stardom, he is exploited by sleazy music executives and abused by the police, eventually turning into a gun-toting outlaw and martyred folk hero.
The spirit of the film is captured in the enduring lyric from the movie’s renowned title song: “I’d rather be a free man in my grave, than living as a puppet or a slave.”
The real-life Ivanhoe Martin was a 1940s Jamaican gangster who went on to become mythologized as an antihero. Mr. Cliff’s stirring performance in the film mirrored aspects of his own early life. He had arrived in Kingston at age 12 from a rural village dreaming of becoming a hitmaker.
“When I came to Kingston I lived in areas that were gangster-infested,” he said in a 2022 interview with The Observer of Britain. “And to be quite honest, the only thing that stopped me from joining those gangs full-time was I didn’t know where I would bury my head if my family heard that I was in Kingston firing a gun.”
It won Mr. Cliff a wide base of fans, many of whom bought the movie’s soundtrack, which included “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and “The Harder They Come,” as well as Mr. Cliff’s “Many Rivers to Cross” and “Sitting in Limbo.” In 2003, Rolling Stone listed the soundtrack as No. 122 on its list of “500 Greatest Albums.”
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Shortly after the movie’s release, Mr. Cliff played his first major U.S. concerts, although some critics seemed hesitant to fully embrace his music.
Still, by the 1990s, Mr. Cliff was a giant of the genre. Jon Pareles, in a review of a 1992 New York show for The New York Times, said Mr. Cliff’s music had developed into “what might be called arena reggae, often meshing reggae with styles from Brazil, Africa and the United States,” including bits of rap, rock and samba.
He was born James Chambers on July 30, 1944, in the Somerton district of St. James Parish, Jamaica. He grew up with eight siblings, a circumstance that taught him that he “always had to stand on my own and be counted,” he told Mojo, a British music magazine, in 2012.
His parents separated when he was a baby, “and my mother wasn’t really around,” he told The Guardian in 2012.
“My most important relationships were with my father and grandmother,” he continued. “He was a very, very strict disciplinarian. But my grandmother played an important role in my life. I was always singing — but I was told I was singing the songs of the devil. My grandmother, though, always said: “Leave the boy alone. He’s going to come to something one day.”
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His childhood was filled with music, including at church. He lived near the Monkey Rock Tavern, which “pumped out music all day and night,” he said; the venue, he added, was “my heaven.”
One day, in elementary school, he asked a woodworking teacher how to write a song. Receiving the instruction, “Just write it,” he tried to do just that, making a guitar out of bamboo to accompany himself, he told Mojo.
After moving to Kingston as a youth, he set out on a music career, although he had to disguise his age by adopting a gruff voice. He soon took his stage name, Cliff, an allusion to the career heights he hoped to scale.
It didn’t take long for Mr. Cliff to break through in Jamaica, where he initially sang R&B and ska songs. He had his first hit in 1962 with “Hurricane Hattie,” a song that showcased what the British music writer John Doran called “one of the sweetest and smoothest voices that Jamaica has ever produced.”
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In 1965, Mr. Cliff signed with Island Records, founded by Chris Blackwell, the celebrated London-born Jamaican record producer who is credited with bringing Bob Marley and many other reggae stars into the mainstream.
Later that decade, Mr. Cliff moved to England in search of wider stardom. There, he had hits including “Wonderful World Beautiful People” in 1969 (a ska track that reached number 25 on the Billboard singles chart) and his cover of the Cat Stevens staple “Wild World” in 1970. “I experienced racism in a manner I had never experienced before, and that was really tough for me,” he told The Guardian in 2022.
He put some of those feelings into the elegiac “Many Rivers to Cross,” which featured the lyrics “Wandering I am lost / As I travel along the White Cliffs of Dover.”
It was not until after he starred in “The Harder They Come” that Mr. Cliff fully achieved the fame he had sought in England. In a 2021 interview with Rolling Stone, he recalled that it was “such a low-budget movie,” filmed in stops and starts because the budget kept running out. However, he said, everyone involved had a common purpose: “We all want to be stars from it!”
Mr. Cliff realized shortly after its release that the movie would indeed achieve that for him, when he saw his face in advertisements on London buses. At that time, “reggae music was still considered a novelty,” he told The Guardian, but the film “showed people where the music was coming from.”
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A.H. Weiler, reviewing the movie for The Times, said that Mr. Cliff was “natural and energetic” as the hero and noted that the film’s depictions of poverty and violence countered foreign perceptions of Jamaica as a carefree vacation island.
Although Mr. Cliff became a reggae figurehead thanks to the movie, his pre-eminence was soon eclipsed by that of Mr. Marley. Mike Alleyne, the author of “The Encyclopedia of Reggae: The Golden Age of Roots Reggae,” said that while Mr. Marley benefited from his long tenure with Island Records, Mr. Cliff had a less stable business setup and was less rooted in the genre that he had helped popularize.
“Whereas Cliff was more eclectic and trying to consciously dabble in other genres, Marley was integrating those into his reggae projection,” Mr. Alleyne said.
In the 2012 book “Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King,” by Lloyd Bradley, Mr. Cliff recalled that he had helped Mr. Marley secure his first recording session. As a teenager in 1960s Kingston, he said, he scouted acts for the record producer Leslie Kong, and one day he encouraged Mr. Marley — who had approached Mr. Cliff and Derrick Morgan, another musician, through an intermediary — to audition.
Mr. Cliff and Mr. Marley ended up playing several tracks together. “What struck me about him immediately was how he just walked in, wasn’t nervous or anything,” Mr. Cliff recalled in “Bass Culture.” As soon as Mr. Marley started playing, it was clear he was “special,” Mr. Cliff added.
In 2010, Mr. Cliff became the second reggae musician to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, after Mr. Marley.
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In 2023, the movie “The Harder They Come” was turned into a musical that ran at the Public Theater in Manhattan.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Cliff’s survivors include their two children, Aken and Lilty Cliff.
In an interview with NPR in 2012, Mr. Cliff said that success to him, at that point, meant something different to him than it did at the start of his career in 1972.
“When someone comes up to me,” he said, “and says, ‘I was a dropout in school and I heard your song “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” and that song made me go back to school, and now I am a teacher and I use your song with my students’ — that, for me, is a big success.”
Jenny Gross contributed reporting from London.
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Jimmy Cliff: 8 Essential Songs
A giant of Jamaican music, he gained international renown through the 1972 film “The Harder They Come,” and helped establish reggae’s themes of struggle, resistance and uplift.
Much like the main character he played the 1972 film “The Harder They Come,” Jimmy Cliff was born in the countryside of Jamaica and came to the big city as a young man with a stirring voice. And like the film itself, Cliff became an international symbol of Jamaica and its music.
Cliff, whose wife announced on Monday that he had died at 81, is one of the icons of reggae music, thanks in large part to “The Harder They Come.” The film and its soundtrack — which, in addition to Cliff, featured Desmond Dekker and Toots and the Maytals, among others — introduced much of the world to the sound and look of reggae. It also prepared the global audience for the artist who would ultimately dominate the genre: Bob Marley.
Equally successful as a songwriter and a performer, Cliff — who was born James Chambers — was a key figure throughout the modern history of Jamaican music. His first hits, at the start of the 1960s, were in an upbeat new style that borrowed from American R&B: ska. By the end of the 1960s, Cliff was one of the musicians who helped transform that into reggae, with songs of protest, struggle and uplift.
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Here is a sampling of his greatest work.
‘Hurricane Hatty’ (1962)
With a stage name given to him by the Jamaican music producer Leslie Kong, Cliff scored his first local hit in 1962 by borrowing from the news: Hurricane Hattie had been a major storm in the Caribbean in fall 1961. “I’ll be like Hurricane Hattie,” he sings over an easygoing groove of guitars, harmonica and sax.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
‘Miss Jamaica’ (1962)
Another delicious chestnut of early ska, in which Cliff — always attuned to the dramatic power of diction — exclaims: “You’re my Miss Jah-may-cah,” like he’s calling out the contest winner. Cliff, along with Marley, credited Fats Domino as a crucial influence, and you can hear it in this song’s luxurious, carefree bounce.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
‘Vietnam’ (1969)
Originally released in 1969, this track entered the international protest repertoire the following year with its classic roots-reggae beat — a perpetual-motion organ riff grounded by a deep, earthy horn — and Cliff telling a stark tale of two dispatches from the battlefield. First a soldier sends a message to his girlfriend back home, then his mother gets a telegram: “Mistress Brown,” it says, “your son is dead.”
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
‘Many Rivers to Cross’ (1969)
With a soaring, exhortatory voice — and a backup choir to match — Cliff sounds like a gospel or soul star here, wrestling with how to overcome pride, sin and thoughts of “committing dreadful crime.” That combination may be part of why the director Perry Henzell offered Cliff the lead role in “The Harder They Come” after he heard this song.
▶ Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
‘You Can Get It if You Really Want’ (1972)
Cliff wrote this song for Desmond Dekker, a fellow giant of ska and early reggae, who recorded it in 1970. But “You Can Get It” became a sensation two years later when Cliff remade it for the film “The Harder They Come.” With a cheerful trumpet theme and lines like “You must try, try and try / You’ll succeed a last,” it does double duty as a soundtrack of all-purpose encouragement and as narration for the not-always-wholesome story of “The Harder They Come.”
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‘The Harder They Come’ (1972)
The international breakthrough moment for both Cliff as an artist and reggae as a genre, “The Harder They Come” tells a story of crime, music, fame and the limited avenues for survival in a culture of poverty. Cliff wrote and performs the title track, where he lays out the brutal costs of the life he chooses: “I’d rather be a free man in my grave / Than living as a puppet or a slave.”
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‘Trapped’ (1972)
What could be a standard story of a man stuck in a bad relationship is elevated by Cliff in this funk-leaning track into a high moral drama about how “evil concentrated must be disintegrated.” Bruce Springsteen picked up on that and made “Trapped” a highlight of his live show in the 1980s, with one impassioned version included on USA for Africa’s 1985 album “We Are the World.”
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‘I Can See Clearly Now’ (1993)
Overshadowed by Marley, Cliff never returned to the heights of fame that he had enjoyed with “The Harder They Come.” But one of the bigger moments of his later career came with this cover of Johnny Nash’s inspiring 1972 classic, which became the theme song of the 1993 comedy film “Cool Runnings,” about a Jamaican Olympic bobsled team. With hints of a hip-hop beat, Cliff took his version to No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100, his highest position on the American pop charts.
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Ben Sisario, a reporter covering music and the music industry, has been writing for The Times for more than 20 years.
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