Jimmy Cliff, the reggae pioneer and actor who preached joy, defiance and resilience, has died at age 81 from health complications, per the Associated Press. He’s known for for hits like, ‘Many Rivers to Cross,’ ‘You Can Get it If You Really Want’ and ‘Vietnam.’ Cliff also starred within the landmark movie ‘The Harder They Come.’
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Jimmy Cliff Passes Away After Suffering A Seizure & Pneumonia
Jimmy Cliff’s wife, Latifa Chambers, confirmed his death on Monday (November 24). Latifa and Cliff’s two children also posted a message on the reggae star’s social media sites. The statement revealed that he died from a “seizure followed by pneumonia.” Additional information was not immediately available.
“To all his fans around the globe, please know that your support was his strength throughout his whole profession,” the announcement reads partly. “He really appreciated each fan for his or her love.”
Reggae Singer Remembered For Ground Breaking ‘The Harder They Come’ Movie
Jimmy Cliff was a native Jamaican with a present for catchphrases and topical lyrics. He joined Kingston’s emerging music scene in his teens and helped lead a movement within the Nineteen Sixties that included future stars like Bob Marley, Toots Hibbert and Peter Tosh. By the early Nineteen Seventies, he had accepted director Perry Henzell’s offer to star in a movie about an aspiring reggae musician, Ivanhoe ‘Ivan’ Martin. Ivanhoe turns to crime when his profession stalls. Henzell named the movie ‘The Harder They Come’ after suggesting the title as a possible song for Cliff.
“Ivanhoe was a real-life character for Jamaicans,” Cliff told Variety in 2022 amid the film’s fiftieth anniversary. “After I was slightly boy, I used to listen to about him as being a nasty man. An actual bad man. Nobody in Jamaica, at the moment, had guns. But he had guns and shot a policeman, so he was someone to be feared. Nonetheless, being a hero was the style through which Perry desired to make his name — an anti-hero in the best way that Hollywood turns its bad guys into heroes.”
Should you didn’t know, ‘The Harder They Come’ was delayed for some two years due to sometime-y funding. Still, it was the primary major business release to come back out of Jamaica. The film sold few tickets in its initial run. Now, it stands as a cultural touchstone. Its soundtrack alone is called as one in all the best ever, but in addition a turning point in reggae’s worldwide rise.
What Else To Know About Jimmy’s Profession
Jimmy Cliff’s profession reportedly peaked with ‘The Harder They Come.’ Nonetheless, after a break within the late Nineteen Seventies, he worked steadily for a long time—from session work with the Rolling Stones to collabs with Wyclef Jean, Sting and Annie Lennox amongst others.
Meanwhile, his early music lived on. The Sandinistas in Nicaragua used ‘You Can Get it If You Really Want’ as a campaign theme and Bruce Springsteen helped expand Cliff’s U.S. audience along with his live cover of the reggae star’s ‘Trapped.’ Others performing his songs included John Lennon, Cher and UB40.
Moreover, Jimmy Cliff earned seven Grammy nominations and won twice for best reggae album. His first win was in 1986 for ‘Cliff Hanger’ and in 2012 for the well-named ‘Rebirth,’ which many called his best work in years. His other albums included the Grammy-nominated ‘The Power and the Glory,’ ‘Humanitarian’ and the 2022 release ‘Refugees.’ Also, he performed on Steve Van Zandt’s protest anthem, ‘Sun City,’ and acted within the Robin Williams comedy ‘Club Paradise,’ for which he contributed a handful of songs to the soundtrack. He sang with Elvis Costello on the rocker ‘Seven Day Weekend.’
Jimmy Cliff’s other honors included induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Jamaica’s Order of Merit. In 2019, the Jamaican government renamed Montego Bay’s popular “hip strip” roadway Jimmy Cliff Boulevard. Two years later, Jamaican officials presented Cliff with an official passport in recognition of his status as a Reggae Ambassador.
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Associated Press National Author Hillel Italie and AP journalist John Myers Jr. in Kingston, Jamaica, contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
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