Jimmy Cliff (Born April 1, 1948 as James Chambers) is a ska and reggae musician. Jimmy Cliff is one of the only people who hold the Order of Merit in Jamaica for music, which is one of the highest honors that you can recieve in Jamaica. Even though he is a mainstream music artist, he is arguably more well known from his acting roles in movies like, The Harder They Come. Unlike most reggae artists, Cliff is not of the Rastafarian religion; he is a Muslim.

Cliff began writing music in his youth, and sought out a producer who was willing to produce his music. He met Leslie Kong in 1967 and performed three singles for him. Two of the songs (“Ska Around The World” and “Trust No Man”) weren’t considered good enough for Kong to produce, but the third one he performed, “Hurricane Hattie”, was good enough to make Kong produce his music. In 1979, Kong had a heart attack, leaving Cliff without a producer, but he continued to be a mainstream artist after this point, and other people covered his music to break mainstream themselves.

Cliff is often credited with bringing reggae to the world outside of Jamaica. Reflecting on his career, he stated:

My role has always been as the shepherd of reggae music. When they wanted to bring reggae to America, they sent Jimmy Cliff. When they wanted to bring reggae to England, they sent Jimmy Cliff. When they wanted to bring reggae to Africa, they sent Jimmy Cliff.

In 2010, Cliff was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame for being one of the most influential reggae artists.