Jimmy Cliff

Born James Chambers on July 30, 1944, in Somerton, St. James Parish, Jamaica, he moved from the countryside to Kingston as a teenager to pursue music, taking the stage name "Jimmy Cliff." He won a Vere Johns's "Opportunity Hour" talent contest singing "Sinners Weep," catching the attention of Kingston's music scene.

Producer Leslie Kong, persuaded by Cliff to start a label, released Cliff's 1962 single "Hurricane Hattie," a local hit that jump-started both careers. In 1965, at Chris Blackwell's invitation, Cliff relocated to London, broadening his sound with soul and R&B influences and building an international touring career.

Cliff's defining moment came in 1972 when he starred as Ivanhoe Martin in "The Harder They Come," Jamaica's first major feature film, supplying its soundtrack with "You Can Get It If You Really Want" and "Sitting in Limbo" — the film and soundtrack widely credited with introducing reggae to international audiences ahead of Bob Marley's global breakthrough. He earned seven Grammy nominations and two wins, and in 2010 became only the second Jamaican reggae artist, after Marley, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Raised Pentecostal and later drawn to Rastafari, he converted to Islam in the 1970s, a shift that drew backlash from some peers. He is remembered as one of the artists most responsible for carrying reggae onto the world stage. Cliff died on November 24, 2025, in Kingston, Jamaica, at age 81, following a seizure and subsequent pneumonia.