Jimmy Cliff, a onetime choirboy who emerged from the rough quarters of Kingston, Jamaica, riding a rebel spirit and a fierce sense of social justice to help make the supple, bobbing sounds of reggae a global phenomenon with songs like “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and “The Harder They Come,” has died. He was 81.
Mr. Cliff’s wife, Latifa Chambers, announced his death in an online post early Monday. She said the cause was a seizure followed by pneumonia. Fueled by his searing performance as a musician-turned-outlaw in the 1972 film “The Harder They Come,” Mr. Cliff became the first worldwide reggae star.
But he set his sights even higher. Over the years, his musical journey encompassed ska, rocksteady, pop, soul and other genres. “I didn’t really want to be known just as the King of Reggae,” he said in a 2004 interview with The Washington Post. “I actually wanted to be known as the King of Music!”
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