Jimmy Cliff, the legendary musician who spread the popularity of reggae around the world, has died, his family announced Monday on his official Instagram account.
He was 81.
“It is with deep sadness that I announce that my husband Jimmy Cliff passed away due to a seizure followed by pneumonia. I am grateful to his family, friends, fellow artists and colleagues who shared his journey,” his wife Latifah Chambers wrote on Instagram.
He was best known for songs such as “Many Rivers to Cross” and “The Harder They Come”, the title track to the 1972 film of the same name starring Cliff. The film's soundtrack was a major international success and contributed greatly to the spread of Jamaican reggae.
Born in Jamaica in 1944, Cliff scored his first local hit at the age of just 14 with “Hurricane Hattie” and went on to win two Grammy Awards and receive seven nominations.
He was only one of two Jamaicans inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with Bob Marley. He was inducted in 2010 following an inaugural speech by Wyclef Jean. An essay in Cliff's memory, written by writer Rob Bowman, states that if he had done nothing more than act in The Harder They Come, he would have deserved inclusion.
A prolific artist well into his later years, Cliff has collaborated with a number of non-reggae musicians, including the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon, while Bruce Springsteen and Willie Nelson have recorded versions of his songs.
Cliff's song “Vietnam” was declared by Bob Dylan to be “the greatest protest song ever written”, according to Cliff's website.
After a creative renaissance in 2012 with the Grammy Award-winning album “Rebirth,” Cliff said, according to his website, “I now feel like I haven't completed what I'm here on this planet to do. I have to say what I have to say and do what I have to do through music and movies. Every morning I wake up, it keeps me going.”
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com.
