Raised in deep poverty, he rose from almost nothing to become reggae’s first true global superstar, opening doors for countless artists and helping carve the path that Bob Marley would later walk.
His voice, his presence, and his legacy reshaped the sound of a generation.
In a message shared across Cliff’s social media accounts, Chambers and the couple’s three children revealed that he passed away following a “seizure followed by pneumonia.” No additional details have been released.
“To all his fans around the world, please know that your support was his strength throughout his whole career,” the family’s post read. “He really appreciated each and every fan for their love.”
The Harder They Come success
A Jamaican native with a distinctive tenor and a knack for sharp, socially aware lyrics, Cliff emerged from Kingston’s bustling music scene as a teenager, Associated Press writes. He became a key figure in the 1960s wave of talent that also produced legends like Bob Marley, Toots Hibbert and Peter Tosh.
According to the reagge icon, his musical influences included legends like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Miles Davis. Cliff was mild-mannered and soft-spoken in everyday life, but the moment he stepped on stage, everything changed.
“(Reggae) is a pure music. It was born of the poorer class of people,” Cliff told Spin in 2022. “It came from the need for recognition, identity and respect.”
His career reached a defining moment in the early 1970s when he starred as Ivanhoe “Ivan” Martin in Perry Henzell’s groundbreaking film The Harder They Come— a raw portrait of an ambitious musician pushed into crime when the industry fails him.
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