Jimmy Cliff, reggae legend who sang ‘The Harder They Come,’ dead at 81

By Issy Ronald, CNN

(CNN) — Jimmy Cliff, the smooth-voiced singer who helped popularize the reggae genre, has died at age 81, his wife announced on Instagram on Monday.

“It’s with profound sadness that I share that my husband, Jimmy Cliff, has crossed over due to a seizure followed by pneumonia,” Latifa Chambers said.

“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. He really appreciated each and every fan for their love.”

With hits like “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” “The Harder They Come,” and “Wonderful World, Beautiful People,” Cliff reached worldwide success and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, the only Jamaican apart from Bob Marley to achieve that honor.

As well as his music, he was known for his starring role in the 1972 movie “The Harder They Come,” in which he plays Ivan Martin, a young man who moves to the Jamaican capital, Kingston, to break into the music industry but eventually turns to crime instead. That movie and its soundtrack, for which Cliff wrote several songs, helped popularize reggae in the United States and made Cliff a star.

Cliff’s own story bears some similarities to Martin’s. He was born James Chambers in 1948 in St. James Parish, western Jamaica, in the middle of a hurricane that destroyed his family home. The second-youngest of eight children, he grew up in poverty, singing in church and later taking the stage name Jimmy Cliff.

He moved to Kingston in 1961 and enjoyed his first hit at just 14, when his single “Hurricane Hattie” reached the top of the Jamaican charts. He moved to London shortly afterward to advance his career.

There, he recorded his first album, which incorporated elements of R&B, before returning to Jamaica. His work became increasingly popular. By 1970, he had three singles in the UK charts: “Wonderful World, Beautiful People,” “Vietnam” (which Bob Dylan called the “best protest song ever written”) and a cover of Cat Stevens’ “Wild World.”

He later worked with acts like the Rolling Stones, Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox and Paul Simon, and recorded a track, “I Can See Clearly Now,” on the soundtrack of the 1993 movie “Cool Runnings.”

Such was Cliff’s stature that Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness paid tribute to him on X after his death, remembering him as a “true cultural giant whose music carried the heart of our nation to the world.”

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This story has been updated with additional developments.