See all 11 pictures

Play Jimmy Cliff Radio

Jimmy Cliff

1,795,084 plays (270,756 listeners)
In your library (0 plays)

88 shouts

Add to my Library Share

Get Ringtones

Jimmy Cliff OM (born James Chambers, 1 April 1948, St Catherine, Jamaica) is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is best known among mainstream audiences for songs like “Sittin’ in Limbo”, “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and “Many Rivers to Cross” from The Harder They Come, a film soundtrack which helped popularise reggae across the world.

Cliff moved to Kingston in 1962. After he released two singles that failed to make much of an impression, his career took off when his “Hurricane Hattie” became a hit, while he was aged just 14; it was produced by Leslie Kong, with whom Cliff would remain until Kong’s death. Later local hit singles included “King of Kings”, “Dearest Beverley” and “Pride and Passion”. In 1964, Cliff was chosen as one of the Jamaican representatives at the World’s Fair, and Cliff soon signed to Island Records and moved to Britain. Island initially (and unsuccessfully) tried to sell Cliff to the rock audience, but his career took off in the late 1960s. His international debut album was Hard Road to Travel, which received excellent reviews and included “Waterfall”, a Brazilian hit that 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. Folk rock singer-songwriter Bob Dylan even called “Vietnam” the best protest song he’d ever heard. Wonderful World included a cover of Cat Stevens’ “Wild World”, which was a success in 1970.

Tagged as:

reggae, ska, roots reggae, jamaica, roots
See more…

Similar Artists

Top Albums

This Is Crucial Reggae - Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $9.49
- 7digital $4.00
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
New
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
The Best Of Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
We Are All One: The Best of Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Buy
- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search

Top Tracks

1	The Harder They Come full track	1,244
2	Many Rivers To Cross full track	981
3	I Can See Clearly Now full track	977
4	You Can Get It If You Really Want full track	922
5	Wonderful World, Beautiful People full track	463
6	Sitting In Limbo full track	405
7	Vietnam full track	254
8	Miss Jamaica full track	208
9	Wild World full track	204
10	Reggae Night	183
11	Hard Road To Travel full track	175
12	Come Into My Life full track	101
13	Sufferin' In The Land full track	98
14	Struggling Man full track	87
15	King Of Kings full track	79

Shoutbox

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).

Isoniahtar wrote:
26 days ago

he's a rock n roll hall of fame 2010 nominee. let's cross our fingers! ^^

View Profile | Leave Isoniahtar a shout
Cousin_Eddy wrote:
last month

Love you Jimmy :) Your music is timeless.

View Profile | Leave Cousin_Eddy a shout
behindmycamel wrote:
last month

Shine on Jimmy Man :)

View Profile | Leave behindmycamel a shout
teukufadly wrote:
last month

ragga..mon

View Profile | Leave teukufadly a shout
oino7 wrote:
last month

The Harder They Come video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGE4dnrPPZQ

View Profile | Leave oino7 a shout
CocoaDusted wrote:
September 2009

Can't believe ther isn't more love for Keep Your Eyes on the Sparrow. It's turning into my favourite Jimmy Cliff song.

View Profile | Leave CocoaDusted a shout
bigga_nigga wrote:
September 2009

Positive ragga. Sunny music.

View Profile | Leave bigga_nigga a shout
Groszix wrote:
August 2009

great

View Profile | Leave Groszix a shout
FlyingSalt wrote:
August 2009

the harder they come is a classic film with a classic soundtrack. respect.

View Profile | Leave FlyingSalt a shout
kasa408 wrote:
August 2009

thanks for Bob Marley's first studio gig. oh and thanks for Journey I LOVE THAT TUNE

View Profile | Leave kasa408 a shout
degalife wrote:
July 2009

One of da biggest Jamaican icons! Jimmy!

View Profile | Leave degalife a shout
ProtexBlue wrote:
June 2009

Vietnam is shit hot. What a song!

View Profile | Leave ProtexBlue a shout
Tehuutti wrote:
June 2009

Probably my favorite artist nowadays. http://www.last.fm/group/Jimmy+Cliff

View Profile | Leave Tehuutti a shout
obskyr wrote:
June 2009

this

View Profile | Leave obskyr a shout
obskyr wrote:
June 2009

is

View Profile | Leave obskyr a shout
obskyr wrote:
June 2009

not

View Profile | Leave obskyr a shout
obskyr wrote:
June 2009

gay

View Profile | Leave obskyr a shout
marcossource wrote:
May 2009

love

View Profile | Leave marcossource a shout
josecharts wrote:
May 2009

Hakuna matata <3

View Profile | Leave josecharts a shout
YogurtJalla wrote:
May 2009

Seriously, don't f*ck with him...

View Profile | Leave YogurtJalla a shout

See all 88 shouts

Videos

Listeners

reijard
Listening now
to The Harder They Come
jambokaos87
Listening now
to Many Rivers To Cross
vajrapaani
Listening now
to The Harder They Come
zione
Top Listener
Isoniahtar
Top Listener
Moisz
Top Listener

Recent Activity

ItsYaBoyDKING, lattlayfottfoy, PopulousBurrito and 67 other people added Jimmy Cliff to their libraries. 30 minutes ago
IanAR connected Jimmy Cliff to the group Freddie McGregor. Tuesday afternoon
tweetutoo, IsraelNjera, PeleKoolAid and 3 other people added Jimmy Cliff to their libraries. Tuesday morning
Acio updated the Swedish wiki page for Jimmy Cliff. (diff) Monday evening
CaliBornRaised, oigsq, duderonomy1122 and 19 other people added Jimmy Cliff to their libraries. Monday evening