Cliff earned seven Grammy nominations and won twice for Best Reggae Album—first in 1986 for Cliff Hanger and again in 2012 for Rebirth, widely hailed as a creative resurgence. His long list of honors includes induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Jamaica’s prestigious Order of Merit. In 2019, Montego Bay renamed its famous “hip strip” Jimmy Cliff Boulevard, and two years later he was granted an official Jamaican passport recognizing him as a Reggae Ambassador.
By the late ’60s, he had signed with Island Records and expanded his reach with global hits like his cover of Cat Stevens’ “Wild World” and the uplifting “Wonderful World, Beautiful People.” His searing protest song “Vietnam” was inspired by a devastated friend who returned from the war “damaged beyond recognition.”
