The Mirror has a look at Jimmy Cliff’s incredible six-decade career, which began when he was 12 years old, following his announcement earlier today.
Jimmy Cliff, one of reggae music’s most renowned figures who contributed to the development of the genre, has received tributes.
The musician, actor and activist was a cultural icon, helping to bring the unmistakable sound of Jamaica to a worldwide audience. He died of pneumonia aged 81, his family announced in a statement on Monday afternoon.
His decades-long, award-winning career included songs like You Can Get It If You Really Want, Wonderful World, and Many Rivers to Cross. Even though he wasn’t even a teenager when he released his first hit, he was inducted into the Rock &, Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
James Chambers, a born James Chambers, was a child whose father took him to Kingston, where he would later adopt the stage name Jimmy Cliff, at the age of 12. He began writing songs as a child in Saint James, Jamaica, as James Chambers. He would eventually sell millions of records and collaborate with Bob Dylan and Bob Marley as a result of the decision, which paid off.
His father chose to take a chance and immerse his son in the musical soul of Jamaican music, with the encouragement of his mother’s singing career. He had already hit Hurricane Hattie a few years later. A star was born.
His wife Latifa expressed gratitude for Cliff’s close friends and artists. Lilty and Aken, two of his three children, also signed the note. My husband, Jimmy Cliff, passed away after having a seizure followed by pneumonia, according to the statement.
“I am thankful for his family, friends, fellow artists and coworkers who have shared his journey with him. To all his fans around the world, please know that your support was his strength throughout his whole career. Jimmy, my darling, may you rest in peace. I will follow your wishes.”
He was prepared for the future thanks to his upbringing. He told The Independent more than 20 years ago that Kingston was rough. You are unaware of anyone in the city. You can’t say to your neighbor, “I’m hungry, give me something,” in his or her voice.
“But by the time I arrived, I was prepared for whatever came,” he continued. I was already aware of my goals when I was younger. I wanted to have my songs recorded because I had written them. Money was not something I knew. It was about “exposing my art.”
By the mid-twenties, the legendary Dylan had praised his hit Vietnam as the best protest song ever written, and the star went on to become a household name. He collaborated with legend Wyclef Jean and produced 33 studio albums, the most recent of which was released in 2022. He was already blind at that point.
In the second half of the 1960s, he signed with Island Records, the world’s top reggae label, and grew even bigger. He was the inspiration behind Cat Stevens’ song Wild World before he rose to the top 10 in the UK with the upbeat Wonderful World, Beautiful People.
Henzell, a highly regarded performer, quickly admired him. He accepted the offer to play the lead role in the 1972 film The Harder They Come and said yes to producing the official soundtrack. He gained a new audience as a result.
50 years after the release of the film, the Grammy Awards issued an appraisal. Cliff’s portrayal is riveting and authentic, stating that he witnessed firsthand the crime, violence, and the survival of the fittest mindset in the ghetto communities where reggae was born.
He briefly held his position as the most famous artist in the genre and won praise for his song Many Rivers to Cross, a gospel-style testament he wrote after confronting racism in Britain in the 1960s. He talked about his time in the UK in 2012, which he did. According to Rolling Stone, “It was a very frustrating time. I had high hopes for England, but I soon saw those hopes wane.
The humanitarian activist’s rendition of Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now made its way onto the soundtrack of the 1993 film Cool Runnings. Working with legend Wyclef Jean, he produced more than 30 studio albums, including the most recent, Refugees, which he released in 2022.
He was invited to play alongside John Lennon and UB40 on the million-selling charity album We Are the World from 1985. In a 2019 interview, he said, “When I’ve accomplished all my ambitions, I guess I’ll have done it and I can just say “great.” However, I’m still hungry. I desire it. I still have many rivers to cross, just like I just said, but I still have the burning fire that brightens inside of me.
Only a select few musicians, along with Marley and Bunny Wailer, received the Jamaican Order of Merit. Before converting to Islam from Christianity, he briefly fought for the Rastafari movement. He married actress Nabiyah Be, a father of three children, Lilty, Aken, and him.
Andrew Holness, the prime minister of Jamaica, described the actor as “a true cultural giant whose music has opened the door for our nation to the world.”
Source: Mirror
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