James Chambers (30 July 1944 - 24 November 2025), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician. He was considered to be one of Jamaica's most celebrated musicians and was credited with helping to popularise reggae music internationally. At the time of his death he was the 4th reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences. He was also nominated seven times for the Grammy Awards, winning twice.

Cliff starred in The Harder They Come (1972), the first major commercial film from Jamaica. The soundtrack helped to make reggae widely known. He was known for such songs as "Many Rivers to Cross", "If I Follow My Mind", "You Can Get It If You Really Want", "The Harder They Come", "Reggae Night", and his covers of Cat Stevens's "Wild World", Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" (from the Cool Runnings soundtrack) and "Hakuna Matata". Cliff was one of five performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. He is one of only two Jamaicans in the Hall of Fame, the other being Bob Marley.

Jimmy Cliff made deliberate, multifaceted efforts to reach across cultural and racial lines and appeal to a mainstream audience. He pursued strategic record deals that gave him access to the primarily white UK market, covered well-known pop and rock songs such as Cat Stevens' "Wild World", which reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart in 1970, and placed his music in popular films including the 1988 hit Cocktail, which featured his song "Shelter of Your Love". Through these efforts Cliff reached a broader global audience while remaining true to his reggae roots, and was widely credited with helping to popularize reggae worldwide.

Early life and education

Jimmy Cliff was born James Chambers on 30 July 1944 in Saint James, Colony of Jamaica, the second youngest of nine children. He began writing songs while still at primary school in St. James, listening to a neighbour's sound system. When he was 14 years old his father took him to Kingston, where he adopted the stage name Jimmy Cliff, "an allusion to the career heights he hoped to scale."

Career

1960s and 1970s

Cliff sought out producers while he was still at school, trying without success to get his songs recorded, and he entered talent contests. "One night I was walking past a record store and restaurant as they were closing, pushed myself in and convinced one of them, Leslie Kong, to go into the recording business, starting with me", Cliff wrote in his own website biography. After two singles that failed to make much impression, his career took off when "Hurricane Hattie" became a hit when he was 17. The record was produced by Kong, with whom Cliff remained until Kong's death from a heart attack in 1971.

Cliff's later local hit singles included "King of Kings", "Dearest Beverley", "Miss Jamaica", and "Pride and Passion". In 1964 he was chosen as one of Jamaica's representatives at the 1964 New York World's Fair. That same year Cliff was featured in a program called This is Ska! alongside Prince Buster, Toots and the Maytals, and Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.

He signed to Island Records and moved to the United Kingdom. Island Records initially (and unsuccessfully) tried to sell Cliff to the rock audience. His career took off in the late 1960s and his international debut album, Hard Road to Travel, was released in 1967. It received excellent reviews and included "Waterfall" (composed by Nirvana's Alex Spyropoulos and Patrick Campbell-Lyons), which became a hit in Brazil and won the International Song Festival.

"Waterfall" was followed in 1969 by "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" and "Vietnam" in 1970, both popular throughout most of the world. He released "Many Rivers to Cross" about his struggles with the music industry in 1969. The song was covered by many other artists including Cher, UB40, and John Lennon. Cliff also released a cover of Cat Stevens's "Wild World" as a single.

In 1972, Cliff starred as Vincent "Ivanhoe" Martin (known as Rhyging) in Perry Henzell's classic reggae film The Harder They Come. As the film tells Martin's story, he is a young man without funds. Arriving in Kingston from the country, he tries to make it in the recording business but without success. Eventually he turns to a life of crime. The soundtrack album sold well around the world, bringing reggae to an international audience for the first time. When it was released the film broke box office records in Jamaica and remains one of the most internationally significant films to have come out of Jamaica since the nation's independence from the United Kingdom. The film made its debut at London's Gaumont cinema in Notting Hill on 1 September 1972. Paul Simon recorded "Mother and Child Reunion" with Cliff's backing band.

In 1976, Cliff sang on the first season of Saturday Night Live, episode 12, hosted by Dick Cavett. After a series of albums, Cliff took a break and travelled to Africa. The Nigeria-based Jamaican writer Lindsay Barrett was instrumental in his first trip there and subsequently converted to Islam, taking the name of El Hadj Naïm Bachir.

1980s and 1990s

Cliff returned to music and toured for several years before recording with Kool & the Gang. He had a big hit with "Reggae Night" in 1983. In 1984 heappeared at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, Netherlands. During The River Tour, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band added Cliff's previously little-known song "Trapped" to their live set. It achieved greater prominence when it was included on 1985's We Are the World benefit album. The follow-up, Cliff Hanger (1985), won a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. It was his last major success in the United States until 1993. Also in 1985, Cliff contributed to the song "Sun City", a protest song written and composed by Steven Van Zandt and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to express opposition to the South African policy of apartheid.

Cliff provided backing vocals on The Rolling Stones' 1986 album Dirty Work. He co-starred in the comedy Club Paradise with Robin Williams and Peter O'Toole and contributed several songs to the soundtrack, duetting with Elvis Costello on "Seven Day Weekend". Cliff toured North America with Steve Winwood for two months as the opening act during August-October 1986. His song "Shelter of Your Love" was featured in the 1988 film Cocktail.

Cliff appeared in the film Marked for Death in 1990, performing "John Crow" with the Jimmy Cliff Band. His recording of "You Can Get It If You Really Want" was used as a campaign anthem by the Sandinista National Liberation Front in the 1990 election in Nicaragua. In 1991, he performed at the second Rock in Rio festival in Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He continued to sell well in Jamaica and to a lesser extent in the UK, returning to the mainstream pop charts in the US and elsewhere (#1 in France) with a version of Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" on the Cool Runnings soundtrack in 1993. In 1995 Cliff released a collaboration with Lebo M, the single "Hakuna Matata", a song from the soundtrack of The Lion King.

2000 to 2025

In 2001, Cliff became an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists. In 2002 he released the album Fantastic Plastic People in Europe, after first providing free downloads using p2p software. This album featured collaborations with Joe Strummer, Annie Lennox, and Sting, as well as new songs that were reminiscent of Cliff's original hits. In 2004, Cliff completely reworked the songs, dropping the reggae in favour of an electronic sound, for inclusion in Black Magic. The album also included a recording of "Over the Border" with Strummer. Cliff performed at the closing ceremony to the 2002 Commonwealth Games. In 2003, "You Can Get It If You Really Want" was included in the soundtrack to the film Something's Gotta Give. He appeared in July 2003 at the Paléo Festival in Nyon, Switzerland. The Jamaican government under P. J. Patterson honoured Cliff on 20 October 2003 by awarding him The Order of Merit, the nation's fourth-highest honour, in recognition of his contributions to the film and music of Jamaica.

Cliff performed at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Cricket World Cup. That year, "You Can Get It If You Really Want" was adopted by the British Conservative Party during their annual conference. He was quoted in The Independent as saying: "One of my band mates called me this morning to tell me the news. I can't stop them using the song, but I'm not a supporter of politics. I have heard of Cameron, but I'm not a supporter. I don't support any politician. I just believe in right or wrong."

In September 2009, Cliff was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, following a campaign on his behalf by the American Charles Earle. Cliff reacted to the news by saying, "This is good for Cliff, good for Jamaican music and good for my country." On 15 December 2009, he was announced as an inductee and was inducted on 15 March 2010 by Wyclef Jean. Cliff is one of only two Jamaicans in the Hall of Fame, the other being Bob Marley. In the spring and summer of 2010 he embarked on an extensive tour of the U.S. and Canada.

Cliff appeared in the 2011 documentary Reggae Got Soul: The Story of Toots and the Maytals, which was featured on BBC. In 2011, Cliff worked with producer Tim Armstrong, lead singer of American punk band Rancid, on the EP The Sacred Fire and the full-length album Rebirth. Rebirth won a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. The album was listed at number 12 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the top 50 albums of 2012 with the description: "There's ska, rock steady, roots reggae, a revelatory cover of The Clash's 'Guns of Brixton' delivered in Cliff's trademark soulful tenor, grittier but still lovely more than 40 years after his debut."

In December 2012, Cliff was named Artist of the Year by digital newspaper Caribbean Journal, citing his work on Rebirth. In August 2022, Cliff released the album Refugees.

Personal life and death

Cliff was briefly a member of the Rastafari movement before converting to Islam from Christianity. In a 2013 interview he said he had a "universal outlook on life" and did not align himself with any particular movement or religion, adding, "now I believe in science". Cliff was married and had several children. From a relationship with the British film director Bluette Abrahams he fathered a daughter, Odessa Chambers. From his marriage to Latifa Chambers, a daughter Lilty and son Aken. In 1992 he became the father to the Brazilian actress/singer Nabiyah Be through a relationship with the psychologist Sônia Gomes.

On 24 November 2025, Cliff's wife announced that he had died that morning from pneumonia. He had been hospitalised following a seizure. He was 81. Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in a public statement after his death, said that Cliff's music "lifted people through hard times, inspired generations, and helped to shape the global respect that Jamaica enjoys today."