Jimmy Cliff, the Jamaican musician and actor who helped propel reggae into the international spotlight, has died at 81 years old. The singer-songwriter was known for hits such as "Many Rivers to Cross," "You Can Get It if You Really Want" and the title track in the 1972 crime film The Harder They Come, in which he also starred as the main character.
According to his wife, Latifa Chambers, Cliff died due to a seizure followed by pneumonia. In an announcement on social media, Chambers wrote, "To all his fans around the world, please know that your support was his strength throughout his whole career."
Born James Chambers in 1944, Cliff grew up in a rural village in Jamaica, and began singing in school and in church. His father worked as a tailor, and hoped his son would study medicine. After being exposed to American music from New Orleans and Florida through the radio, a teenaged James moved to Kingston to pursue an artistic career.
His first major hit in Jamaica, "Hurricane Hattie," referenced a 1961 storm that wreaked havoc in the Caribbean. In 1964, Cliff was selected to perform at the World's Fair in New York City as a representative for the island. The following year, British-born producer Chris Blackwell signed Cliff to his label, Island Records, and persuaded him to move to England.
Though he initially struggled to find his footing with audiences abroad, Cliff earned critical and commercial success for songs such as "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" and the protest anthem "Vietnam." Despite addressing war and tragedy in his music, the artist infused his lyrics with a hopeful outlook.
"I grew up economically poor, spiritually rich," Cliff told NPR in 2010. "So even though I had this condition, that kind of balance made me always take the downside and kind of put an up to it."
Cliff's career reached new heights when he was cast in the lead role of Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin in the seminal Jamaican film The Harder They Come, directed by Perry Henzell. In it, Ivan is an aspiring reggae musician who moves to Kingston from the countryside, faces poverty and exploitation in the city and descends into a life of crime, eventually becoming a violent fugitive with a chart-topping single. The film features several of Cliff's songs, which helped turn The Harder They Come into a national sensation in Jamaica and an international cult classic.
"That movie really had a tremendous effect on bringing the Jamaican world, music and culture and everything, to the forefront," Chris Blackwell, who also served as executive producer for the film, told Fresh Air's Terry Gross in 2022.
Cliff continued to perform and record for decades, collaborating with artists including Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox and Wyclef Jean. In 1985, he was one of the dozens of artists featured on the all-star anti-apartheid song "Sun City." The following year, Cliff won a Grammy Award for best reggae recording for his album Cliff Hanger.
In 2010, he became the second reggae artist, after Bob Marley, to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Two years later, Cliff reintroduced himself — and reggae — to the world with his album Rebirth, which would go on to win a Grammy for best reggae album in 2013.
In an interview with NPR, Cliff described that album as a revitalization of his artistic vision, which necessitated going back to the sound that first launched his career from the studios of Kingston — playing with the same instruments and following the same live-to-tape recording techniques that he'd employed in the genre's beginnings. The album included a cover of "The Guns of Brixton" by The Clash, which references Ivanhoe Martin in its lyrics.
"One of the reasons for covering that song was to show and remind people the influence that reggae music had on punk music," Cliff told NPR. "Because reggae and punk address the same issues — political, social issues. I think that is the essence of the connection."
Copyright 2025 NPR
