Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff (30 July 1944 – 24 November 2025) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who worked in ska, rocksteady, reggae, and soul. He was born in Saint James, Jamaica, and began writing songs as a schoolboy. At 14 he moved to Kingston and took the stage name Jimmy Cliff. He had his first hit, “Hurricane Hattie,” at 17, working with producer Leslie Kong. In 1964 he was one of Jamaica’s representatives at the New York World’s Fair.

He signed with Island Records and moved to the UK, where his international debut album Hard Road to Travel came out in 1967. He wrote “Many Rivers to Cross” and “Vietnam,” which Bob Dylan called the best protest song he had ever heard. His cover of Cat Stevens’s “Wild World” reached No. 8 on the UK chart. In 1972 he starred in The Harder They Come, the first major commercial film from Jamaica, whose soundtrack brought reggae to a worldwide audience. His later hits include “Reggae Night” (1983), “I Can See Clearly Now” from the Cool Runnings soundtrack (1993), and “Hakuna Matata” (1995). He continued working into the 2000s, releasing Rebirth (2012) and Refugees (2022). He died in Kingston at age 81, and Prime Minister Andrew Holness said his music helped shape Jamaica’s global reputation.