The 81-year-old singer, who remained very popular around the world, died of pneumonia.
World reggae star, actor, singer, songwriter, Jimmy Cliff died in Jamaica at the age of 81, following pneumonia according to his widow.
“It is with deep sadness that I share the disappearance of my husband following a convulsive attack followed by pneumonia”she wrote. Before adding: “I am grateful to his family, friends, fellow artists and collaborators who shared his journey. To all his fans around the world, know that your support has been his strength throughout his career. »
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Success at 17
He was born James Chambers on July 30, 1944 in Jamaica. He wrote his first songs in primary school. It was when he moved to Kingston with his father at the age of 14 that he adopted his pseudonym, Jimmy Cliff. He relentlessly canvassed the island’s music producers and was unsuccessful. No more participating in springboards. One evening in 1961, while singing outside a restaurant called Beverley, he tried to convince the owners to produce his music in exchange for mentioning the establishment’s name in a song. This encouraged one of the owners, Leslie Kong, 30, to launch her production company, Beverley’s. His third single, Hurricane Hattiemet with success when the singer was only 17 years old. Other local successes followed. In 1964, Cliff was chosen to represent Jamaica at the World’s Fair in New York. The same year, he was part of a ska bill alongside Toots & the Maytals, Prince Buster and Byron Lee.
Signing with Island Records – Bob Marley’s record company – Cliff moved to London. His first album, Hard Road to Travel, earned him a hit in South America. In 1969, he wrote his standard, Many Rivers to Crossone of the most covered songs in popular music. We remember the version given by the Englishman Joe Cocker. In 1970, his song Vietnam was described by Bob Dylan himself as “the best protest song ever heard”. We also owe him a cover of Wild Word by Cat Stevens, labelmate.
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But it’s the worldwide release of the film The Harder They Come which made Jimmy Cliff an international star. The singer plays the lead role in this film with significant historical significance for Jamaica and the cultural influence of the island. The whole world succumbed to reggae in these years 1972 and 1973, which were those of the emergence of Marley and the success of the cover of I Shot the Sheriff by Eric Clapton. Jimmy Cliff became one of the most active ambassadors of the genre, traveling the world.
In the 1980s, he was covered by Bruce Springsteen, collaborated with the Rolling Stones and was part of the Sun City collective which called for a boycott of apartheid. In 1983, he scored an international hit, Reggae Nightwhich imposes it, at almost 40 years old, on a young audience who buys the 45 rpm by the armload. He will never stop taking his music from continent to continent, collaborating with young artists and cultivating his beautiful humanism. His latest album, Refugees, was released in 2022.
The singer has twice won the Grammy Award for best reggae album: in 1986 for Cliff Hanger as well as in 2013 for Rebirth. In 2010, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He then joined stars such as Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and Elton John.