Jimmy Cliff, the legendary Jamaican singer who along with Bob Marley popularized reggae, ska and rocksteady music over a six decade career, has died, his wife Latifa Chambers announced on Facebook on Monday.<\/p>\n
The cause was a seizure followed by pneumonia, she said.<\/p>\n
Born James Chambers on July 30, 1944 during a hurricane in St. James Parish, northwestern Jamaica, he moved in the 1950s from the family farm to the country\u2019s capital Kingston with his father, determined to succeed in the music industry.<\/p>\n
At just 14 he became nationally famous for the song \u201cHurricane Hattie,\u201d which he wrote.<\/p>\n
Cliff would go on to record over 30 albums and perform all over the world, including in Paris, in Brazil and at the World\u2019s Fair, an international exhibition held in New York in 1964. The following year, Island Records\u2019 Chris Blackwell, the producer who launched Bob Marley and the Wailers, invited Cliff to work in the U.K. with him.<\/p>\n
Cliff later went into acting, starring in the 1972 classic film \u201cThe Harder They Come,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019ve achieved all my ambitions, then I guess that I will have done it and I can just say \u2018great\u2019,\u201d he said in a 2019 interview, as he was losing his sight.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m still hungry. I want it. I\u2019ve still got the burning fire that burns brightly inside of me \u2013 like I just said to you. I still have many rivers to cross!\u201d<\/p>\n
Known in part for singles \u201cYou Can Get It If You Really Want It\u201d and \u201cMany Rivers To Cross,\u201d as well as for his covers of Johnny Nash\u2019s \u201cI Can See Clearly Now,\u201d which appeared on the soundtrack of the 1993 movie \u201cCool Runnings,\u201d and Cat Stevens\u2019 \u201cWild World,\u201d Cliff was a prolific writer who weaved his humanitarian views into his songs.<\/p>\n
Bob Dylan said Cliff\u2019s \u201cVietnam\u201d was the best protest song ever written.<\/p>\n
The anti-establishment bent of Cliff\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
In 2012, he won a Grammy Award for best reggae album for \u201cRebirth,\u201d which was produced by punk band Rancid\u2019s Tim Armstrong, and another Grammy in 1984 for \u201cCliff Hanger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cliff received the Order of Merit, the highest honour in the arts and sciences, from the Jamaican government. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–Reuters–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":11862,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"featured-post":[192],"class_list":["post-11858","lifestyle-ent","type-lifestyle-ent","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","featured-post-lifestyle-ent","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lifestyle-ent\/11858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/lifestyle-ent"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/lifestyle-ent"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"featured-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured-post?post=11858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}