Jimmy Cliff, beloved reggae pioneer known for his message of positivity, peace, and perseverance, and for his leading role in the film The Harder They Come, has died at 81.
Cliff’s family posted a message to his social media on Monday, stating that he died from a “seizure followed by pneumonia” and thanking his fans around the world: “[Please] know that your support was his strength throughout his whole career. He really appreciated each and every fan for their love.”
Born James Chambers in 1944 in St. James Parish, Jamaica, during a hurricane that destroyed his family home, Cliff was the second youngest of nine children. He began writing songs after being inspired by ska pioneer Derrick Morgan and making his own guitar out of bamboo. After moving to Kingston in his teens, he helped lead Jamaica’s reggae movement alongside other trailblazing artists like Bob Marley, Toots Hibbert, and Peter Tosh.
Jimmy Cliff Recording “The Harder They Come”
Cliff enjoyed his first hit at just 14 with the single “Hurricane Hattie”, which reached the top of the Jamaican charts. He later relocated to London, where he initially struggled to find commercial success before breaking into the U.K. charts with his upbeat 1969 single “Wonderful World, Beautiful People”, a cover of Cat Stevens‘ “Wild World”, and the politically charged “Vietnam”, which Bob Dylan called “the best protest song ever written.” Reflecting on the song in 1986, Cliff told reggae archivist Roger Steffens, “The essence of my music is struggle. What gives it the icing is the hope of love.”
Cliff gained international recognition after starring in the 1972 movie The Harder They Come, in which he played Ivan Martin, a young man who, like Cliff, moves to Kingston to break into the music industry but, unlike him, turns to a life of crime instead. The film was the first major commercial release to come out of Jamaica, and its soundtrack, for which Cliff wrote his hit “The Harder They Come”, helped popularize reggae in the United States.
Cliff went on to release other classic songs, including “Sitting In Limbo”, “You Can Get It If You Really Want”, and “Many Rivers to Cross”, and collaborated with The Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox, Paul Simon, and more. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, the only Jamaican other than Bob Marley to achieve that honor, and was the only living reggae artist to have earned Jamaica’s Order of Merit, the highest honor the nation’s government gives for achievements in the arts and sciences.
He is survived by his wife Latifa and children Lilty, Aken, and actress/singer Nabiyah Be.