{"id":5872,"date":"2025-11-25T13:52:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-25T13:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/25\/reggae-lovers-pay-glowing-tributes-to-legendary-jimmy-cliff\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T13:52:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T13:52:28","slug":"reggae-lovers-pay-glowing-tributes-to-legendary-jimmy-cliff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/25\/reggae-lovers-pay-glowing-tributes-to-legendary-jimmy-cliff\/","title":{"rendered":"Reggae lovers pay glowing tributes to legendary Jimmy Cliff"},"content":{"rendered":"
On Monday, Nov. 24, Jamaican reggae lovers and artists paid tribute to the legendary singer, songwriter, and actor Jimmy Cliff, who passed away that day at the age of 81.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt’s with profound sadness that I share that my husband, Jimmy Cliff, has crossed over due to a seizure followed by pneumonia,\u201d said Latifa Chambers in a statement posted on Cliff’s Instagram account.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI am thankful for his family, friends, fellow artists, and coworkers who have shared his journey with him,\u201d she added. \u201cTo 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.”<\/div>\n
The couple’s children, Lilty and Aken, also signed the statement.<\/div>\n
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Cliff, born on July 30, 1944, in Somerton, St. James, Jamaica, was reportedly instrumental in introducing reggae to an international audience, primarily through his performance in the landmark film \u201cThe Harder They Come\u201d (1972).<\/div>\n
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\u201cThere will forever be a part of Jimmy that will resonate and remain with my family for time to come,\u201d Jamaican-born, New York attorney Merrick J. Dammar, Esq., told Caribbean Life. \u201cAs the godfather of my son Markhus, Jimmy was the first entertainer who performed at my property located at Emandee Acres, setting the standard under which we offer quality entertainment for free.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI am proud to be the owner of Jimmy’s first guitar,\u201d Dammar added. \u201cAs he presented it to me, he stated, \u2018Bob Marley’s guitar is with him. Mine is with you. Take good care of her, she made me famous\u2019.<\/div>\n
\u201cRest my brother; you have crossed your last river, leaving us with the reminder that we live in a \u2018Wonderful World\u2019 with \u2018Beautiful People,\u2019\u201d he continued.<\/div>\n
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\"Jamaican

Jamaican singer Richie Stephens. <\/span>Photo courtesy Richie Stephens\/Pot of Gold<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Reggae singer Richie Stephens said Cliff was \u201cnot just an artist, he was a national treasure and an icon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cJimmy is someone who taught us about the business of music, both how to perform on stage and how to conduct ourselves,\u201d he said. \u201cJimmy Cliff was a pioneer, somebody that we truly loved and admired throughout the years.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt’s such a sad day for Jamaica, for the entire reggae industry to know he’s no longer with us,\u201d Stephens added. \u201cReggae music has certainly lost one of our greatest ever. Jimmy is gone but will never be forgotten. RIP (rest in peace).\u201d<\/div>\n
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Jamaican-born, New York-based entertainment promoter Anthony \u201cER Guru\u201d Turner said he has \u201cknown the songs of singer, actor, humanitarian Jimmy Cliff all my life.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI remember hearing songs like \u2018Harder They Come\u2019, \u2018Many Rivers To Cross\u2019 and \u2018You Can Get It If You Really Want\u2019\u201d, Turner said. \u201cThese songs were the soundtrack not just to the movie \u2018Hard They Come\u2019 but the lives of many Jamaicans who loved and cherished his songs.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Turner worked with Cliff in 2010, when Cliff became the second Jamaican reggae musician to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat a life-changing moment that was to have shared space with him when I put together a press junket to honor Jimmy\u2019s accomplishments for over 30 Jamaican\/Caribbean media in Manhattan,\u201d Turner said. \u201cI had the rare opportunity to touch and hold his Rock & Roll Hall of Fame trophy. This is a moment I will never forget.\u201d<\/div>\n
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In 2012, Turner also worked with Cliff at Groovin’ In The Park in Jamaica, Queens. Cliff headlined the festival along with Gladys Knight, Boyz II Men, Beres Hammond, and Beenieman.<\/div>\n
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\u201cJimmy was the consummate performer who knew how to engage and entertain fans,\u201d said Turner, noting that Cliff was conferred with the Order of Merit, Jamaica’s fourth-highest national honor, in 2003 by the Government of Jamaica. \u201cWalk good, my friend. RIP.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Jamaican-born, New York-based musicologist Winston \u201cStan\u201d Smith said, “Jimmy Cliff’s legacy is secure.<\/div>\n
\u201cLike brand Jamaica, his musical accomplishments punched above his weight,\u201d he said. \u201cThe world knew and loved the rich tapestry of Ska, Rock Steady, and Reggae because of Jimmy Cliff.”<\/div>\n
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Cliff\u2019s biography on his official website states: \u201cAs many legends throughout history do, the whole story starts during a devastating storm. We open on the Somerton District of St. James, Jamaica. With only one midwife tending to the entire village, a mother gives birth to a child, wraps him in a sheet, and takes him to shelter at a neighbor\u2019s home as the hurricane blows her house away.<\/div>\n
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\u201cHowever, everybody agrees, \u2018There\u2019s something special about this boy,\u2019\u201d it adds. \u201cHe becomes famous by the age of 14 for a hit coincidentally entitled \u2018Hurricane Hattie.\u2019 He goes on to popularize reggae music everywhere. He changes the world. Nearly 70 years later, he doesn\u2019t stop. This is the story of Jimmy Cliff.<\/div>\n
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\u201cThe GRAMMY\u00ae Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame\u00ae inductee, musician, actor, singer, songwriter, producer, and humanitarian attributes it to something befitting of tales passed down through the ages\u2014yet all too ignored today\u2014\u2018Magic,\u2019\u201d states his biography.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI feel like there\u2019s something magical about everything,\u201d said Cliff then. \u201cWhen my mother was pregnant, she had such a huge stomach that everyone thought she was carrying triplets. That\u2019s why people initially said I was special.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIn school, I was already doing magic tricks,\u201d he added. \u201cI don\u2019t know how I learned them. I could also read palms. Nobody taught me how to do that either. There are so many stories like that in my life. The fact that I came out of that hurricane felt significant to me.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Cliff received Jamaica\u2019s highest honor, The Order of Merit, and is one of only two Jamaican Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, along with Bob Marley.<\/div>\n
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On Monday, Nov. 24, Jamaican reggae lovers and artists paid tribute to the legendary singer, songwriter, and actor Jimmy Cliff, who passed away that day at the age of 81. \u201cIt’s with profound sadness that I share that my husband, Jimmy Cliff, has crossed over due to a seizure followed by pneumonia,\u201d said Latifa Chambers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5872","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5872","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5872"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5872\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5872"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5872"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5872"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}