R.I.P. Jimmy Cliff: Reggae pioneer dead at 81

By Matt Mitchell  |  November 24, 2025 | 10:15am
Photo by PL Gould/Images/Getty Images
Music News Jimmy Cliff
R.I.P. Jimmy Cliff: Reggae pioneer dead at 81

Jimmy Cliff, the man who brought the sights and sounds of Jamaica to worldwide audiences 60 years ago, has died. Cliff’s wife, Latifa Chambers, confirmed his passing via Instagram, writing: “It’s with profound sadness that I share that my husband, Jimmy Cliff, has crossed over due to a seizure followed by pneumonia. 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 81.

Cliff was known for songs like “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” and “You Can Get It If You Really Want.” He starred in the 1972, gun-toting crime drama The Harder They Come, a film credited with getting reggae onto American soil. He was born James Chambers in 1944, arriving as the eighth of nine children in the impoverished St. James parish of Jamaica. Early in his life, he sang at his local church and, upon hearing Derrick Morgan playing a ska song on the radio, Cliff began writing his one music.

By 1965 he was living in London and recording for Island Records. He’d explode in 1969 with “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” and “Vietnam,” the latter of which Bob Dylan called “the best protest song ever written.” Cliff once said of “Vietnam”: “The essence of my music is struggle. What gives it the icing is the hope of love.” He’d go on to perform on Saturday Night Live, collaborate with the Rolling Stones on Dirty Work, produce the theme song for Cocktail, win two Grammy awards, and find US chart success in 1994 with his cover of “I Can See Clearly Now,” which was featured in Cool Runnings. He was later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, calling it “a great thrill and an honor.”

Browse our Jimmy Cliff archives, including a 1975 Orpheum Theatre concert and his full Woodstock ’94 performance, below:


 
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